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11 Signals Your Nails Are Giving You
About Your Health |
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The
11 Signals Your Nails are Giving You About Your Health
by SixWise.com |
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Many people put a lot of effort into keeping their nails perfectly
trimmed, cleaned and manicured. If the nails aren't perfect, the
solution is often to cover them up with fake nails or polish. But
ignoring such signs and viewing them as only an aesthetic problem
could be dangerous to your health.
Like your skin, your nails are excellent indicators of what's going
on inside your body. If your nails are healthy (smooth and pink
with a slightly curved surface), your body is probably pretty healthy
too. But if your nails are discolored, brittle or otherwise appear
unhealthy, it may be because of an underlying health problem.
"The nails can be windows to a patient's overall health, and
while the nail itself is dead tissue, the areas under the cuticle
and beneath the nail are alive," said dermatologist Richard
K. Scher, M.D., professor of clinical dermatology at Columbia University
in New York City.
Here are 11 signals your nails may be giving you about your health.
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1. Yellow Nail Syndrome:
This may cause a yellow or greenish color to your nails, thickening
of the nail, slowed nail growth, a lack of a cuticle and the nail
may detach partially from the nail bed. This condition often signals
a respiratory disease. |
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2. Pitting:
"If
you see pits on the nails, it could be a sign that you are about to
develop, or that you already have, psoriasis," said Dr. Amit
Pandya, a dermatologist at the University of Texas Southwest Medical
Center in Dallas. The small depressions on the nail could also be
a sign of chronic dermatitis of your fingers or alopecia areata. |
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3. Clubbing:
This condition describes when the nails curve around your fingertips,
which are usually enlarged. It's caused by low oxygen levels in the
blood and may indicate lung disease. |
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4. Spoon Nails:
If your nails look scooped out, like a spoon, it could be a sign of
iron-deficiency anemia. |
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5. Terry's Nails:
In this condition the nails look opaque with a dark band at the tip.
This can be due to aging or a more serious illness including cancer,
congestive heart failure, diabetes or liver disease. |
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6. Beau's Lines:
These horizontal indentations across your nails could be a sign of
malnutrition. They also may appear after serious injury or illness
like a heart attack interrupts the growth of your nail. |
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7. Nail Separating From Nail Bed:
When your nail becomes loose and separates from the nail bed, it could
be related to injury, thyroid disease, fungal disease, drug reactions,
reactions to acrylic nails or nail hardeners or psoriasis. |
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8. Brown or Black Colored Streak:
This could be a sign of a melanoma under the nail. "Subungal
melanoma should be suspected whenever a nail streak appears without
known injury to the nail, the nail discoloration does not gradually
disappear as would a bruise or the size of the nail streak increases
over time," said Dr. Scher. |
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9. Vertical Nail Ridges:
These are fairly common and may worsen with age. They do not signal
any serious underlying disease. |
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10. White, Crumbly Nails:
This is often due to a fungal infection. |
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11. Small White Spots:
These are very common and usually recurring. They're caused by injury
to the base of the nail and are not a cause of concern. The spots
will grow out as your nail grows. |
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This site
allows consumers to plug in a city or zipcode and up pops
a list of restaurants in the area with a selection of menu
items that meet certain healthy criteria, such as fewer calories
and less fat content. |
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