Online Reporter
LONDON. − There’s no shortage of folk wisdom about how to glean the state of your overall health from your nails.
Nails are an extension of the skin.
They are made from keratin, a super tough protein that shields the toes and tops of your fingers from trauma.
While the eyes might be the windows to the soul, to a doctor the nails can be the windows to your health.
Physicians can use them to diagnose all sorts of conditions, from dermatological problems to kidney disease or even autoimmune disorders.
“One of the first things I learned in medical school was to look for something called clubbing, where there is this loss of the angle between the nail and the nail bed itself,” says Dan Baumgardt, a general practitioner in medicine and lecturer in neuroscience and physiology at the University of Bristol.
Clubbing is a sign of extremely low blood oxygen levels.
It is most commonly associated with lung cancer, but it can also indicate an infection of the lining of the heart chambers and heart valves, among other things.
Other conditions where it is observed include celiac disease, cirrhosis of the liver and lung infections amongst others.
White flecks on the nail – known as leukonychia − are often touted to be a sign of vitamin or mineral deficiencies.
However, the evidence to support this is mixed.
In one small study of undergraduates, there was no correlation between this symptom and a person’s intake of either zinc or calcium.
However, in one case report of a patient with Crohn’s disease who developed severe leukonychia on his fingernails while deficient in selenium, it disappeared after treatment with this mineral.
In general, leukonychia are more likely to be a result of nail trauma.
Stubbing your toe, trapping your fingernail in a door, too many manicures, or dropping a heavy object on your foot may cause such a mark.
Nevertheless, white discolouration on the nail could suggest an underlying health issue.
For instance, white marks can be a sign of heavy metal poisoning with lead or arsenic.
White discolouration of the nail could be a sign of psoriasis, a chronic skin condition that causes raised, inflamed, scaly patches of skin.
If the entire nail turns white, this could suggest a deficiency of protein in the bloodstream, which can indicate kidney disease, liver disease or diabetes.
Blue nails, on the other hand, are a sign that the body might be lacking oxygen.
It could be a sign of serious heart disease or emphysema and is something you should get checked out by a doctor as soon as possible.
This is also the case if you see dark lines underneath the nail, as although this can be caused by trauma, it could also be a sign of subungual melanoma, a rare but serious type of skin cancer.
Bleeding beneath the nail – if it doesn’t heal − could also indicate something more serious.
“That haemorrhage can sometimes be suggestive of vasculitis, which is an inflammation of the blood vessels,” said Dr Baumgardt.
“One of the main underlying causes can be an infection of the heart valve, which causes these odd little red swellings.” − BBC
Mathew Masinge