5 Ways Your Nails Tells A Story About Your Health
by Stephanie Koathes Nov 5, 2020
They’re not just for cutting and polishing, your nails offer crucial insights into your overall health. If you know what you’re looking for your nails can tell you quite a lot. Here are six ways your nails can indicate if something is going on in your body.
Beau’s lines
These are indentations that run across the nails. Beau’s lines are associated with several serious conditions such as diabetes and peripheral vascular disease. These lines are also linked to illnesses that come with high fever, such as scarlet fever, measles, mumps and pneumonia. They can also indicate a zinc deficiency.
Dark brown/vertical lines
The skin isn’t the only place that can be negatively affected by the sun. Dangerous melanoma, skin cancer, can hide out in the nails, showing up as dark brown or black vertical lines on the nail bed.
Extremely thin or brittle nails
Breaking a nail is annoying, but if you nails seem to break at the slightest touch, it could mean that you’re dealing with hypothyroidism – low levels of the thyroid hormone. The thyroid gland regulates metabolism, energy, and growth; not having enough thyroid hormone in your system often causes hair loss, brittle, thin and slow growing nails. A blood test can check for thyroid problems.
White nails
Nails that are white and have been that way since birth don’t generally indicate health problems. However, if white nails develop later in life, it could be a sign of systemic diseases, including cirrhosis, chronic renal failure, congestive heart failure, diabetes mellitus, chronic hypoalbuminemia, and Hodgkin’s lymphoma.
Thick and yellow
Yellow nails are the bane of any nail polish wearer’s existence but if you don’t wear nail polish often then yellow nails could be a sign of something more serious. Yellow nails are often seen in patients suffering from lung disease and lymphedema (swelling of the extremities). Thickened nails, which may or may not be yellow, are characteristic of fungal infections of the nail bed.
If you recognise any of these changes in the state of your nails, please discuss them with your doctor.
Sources: MedicineNet, Cleveland Clinic, Mayo Clinic, and Shape Magazine.
