Jaundice, also known as icterus, is a yellowish pigmentation of the skin and sclera due to high bilirubin levels. Jaundice in adults is typically a sign indicating the presence of underlying diseases involving abnormal heme metabolism, liver dysfunction, or biliary-tract obstruction. Its other name, icterus, comes from Gr. íkteros: “jaundice”, “a bird of a yellowish-green colour", so named because the sight of a yellow-green colored bird was thought to be able to cure jaundice.