What are the bile ducts?

Within the liver there's a network of bile ducts; bile is greenish liquid produced in the liver that helps break down fats. The liver also uses bile to clear bilirubin from the blood. Biliwhat, you say? Bilirubin-it's a substance that comes from the breakup of hemoglobin of dead red blood cells. An increased level of bilirubin results in jaundice (a yellowing of the skin and all mucous membranes-that includes the eyeballs where the yellowing is usually detected earliest and easiest), a sign of many liver diseases.