Why do people have yellow eyes when they are old? Why do people have yellow eyes when they are old?

In Chinese, "people are old and pearls are yellow" means that people are aging and are not valued, just like pearls turn yellow with time. Especially for women, it also means that people are old and useless. The "pearls" here are not pearls, but eyes. There is a thin transparent film on the surface of eyeball, called conjunctiva. When you get older, the conjunctiva will produce pigmentation and gather into a massive macula. The white eyeball will have a slightly raised dark yellow substance, and the black eyeball will become more turbid. Therefore, there is a saying that "people are old and yellow."

Chinese medicine believes that human eyes represent the functional state of human internal organs. When people get old, their transport capacity deteriorates, and their eyes will naturally turn yellow. Therefore, children's eyes are clear and bright, while old people's eyes are "old yellow" and gloomy. In Huangdi Neijing, it is said that "the liver begins to improve eyesight", and the eyes are white and yellow, which also indicates that the liver is deficient in qi and blood.

If the old man only has yellow eyes, it is not a big problem, but if jaundice appears in other places, such as skin mucosa, he should go to the hospital as soon as possible.