Disease of the month: Gilbert's syndrome

Gilbert’s syndrome (unconjugated hyperbilirubinaemia) is a common hereditary condition that affects about one person in 20 in the UK. Broadly speaking, however, only one person in every three who has the illness is actually aware of it. Named by French gastroenterologist Nicolas Augustin Gilbert in 1901, Gilbert’s is a genetic condition of the autosomal recessive variety and it is therefore inherited from both parents. It is not a true ‘disease’, despite it being sometimes called Gilbert’s disease. It is often diagnosed to people in their late teens or early 20s and affects men mor...