From the habit of eating clean to the skin... changing color
The Department of Dermatology and Burns - Bach Mai Hospital received a 33-year-old female patient in a state of extreme anxiety. Her palms and soles of her feet turned dark orange-yellow. However, a strange sign is that the cornea (white of her eyes) is still pure white, she also does not feel tired or anorexic.
Test results showed that liver enzymes and bilirubin were within normal limits, but β-carotene levels were elevated. A history review recorded that the patient had a habit of eating a lot of ginseng root continuously for many days.
This case was diagnosed with Carotenoderma and improved after dietary adjustment.
When "boosting" too much turns into... gold
MSc.BS Nguyen Trong Nghia, Bach Mai Hospital, said that β-carotene and other carotenoids (lycopene, lutein... ) are natural pigments that create bright colors for vegetables and fruits. This is a precursor of Vitamin A, playing an important role in vision and the immune system.
Usually, after absorption in the small intestine, a part of carotene will be converted into retinol. However, when we consume the body, the amount of carotene exceeds the processing capacity, excess pigments will follow the blood to the whole body and choose a "residing place" in the horn layer as well as subcutaneous fat tissue, creating a characteristic orange-yellow color.
The "target subjects" of this syndrome:
Children: The weaning age group regularly eats porridge/meal mixed from carrots, pumpkins, sweet potatoes.
Eat Clean" believers: Vegetarians, long-term dieters or drinking concentrated vegetable juice daily.
People with underlying conditions: Diabetes, hypothyroidism or kidney disease are often at higher risk due to slower carotene metabolism.
How to distinguish liver jaundice from eating jaundice
Many people often confuse these two conditions, leading to unnecessary panic. You can check yourself based on the following characteristics:
Carotenoderma diagnosis is mainly based on careful exploitation of eating history and clinical examination. Through tests, doctors often record high carotene levels in the blood, while liver function indicators are still at a normal level and Vitamin A levels may be normal or slightly increased. The most important thing is to distinguish this condition from jaundice due to liver and gallbladder diseases (usually accompanied by jaundice of the eyes), Lycopenaemia syndrome due to eating too many tomatoes, or skin dyeing due to exposure to chemicals, drugs and cosmetics.
In terms of treatment, Carotenoderma is a benign condition, so special medical intervention is not needed. The core measure is to adjust the diet by reducing carotene-rich foods; especially in secondary cases, treatment of underlying diseases is mandatory. Recovery prognosis is very positive: skin color will gradually return to its natural state after a few weeks to months, depending on the level of pigment accumulation in each individual's body.
