Fw: nails, reflection of a person's state of health....... from my rheumy

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----- Original Message ----- From: Kathi

Sent: Thursday, September 26, 2002 11:22 AM

Subject: nails, reflection of a person’s state of health....... from my rheumy

Healthy blood and oxygen supply will make for a peachy-pink nail bed. When there is a deficiency or physical problem within our bodies, the fingernails show it. The fingernails reflect a person’s state of health. Pitting (the presence of small depressions on the nail surface) is often accompanied with crumbling of the nail. Detachment of the nail can also occur. (The nail becomes loose and sometimes even comes off.) Ridges (linear elevations) can develop along the nail occurring in a "lengthwise" or "crosswise" direction. "RIDGES can appear either vertically or horizontally. Vertical ridges indicate poor general health, poor nutrient absorption, and/or iron deficiency; they may also indicate a kidney disorder. Horizontal ridges can occur as a result of severe stress, either psychological or physical, such as from infection and/or disease. Ridges running up and down the nails also indicate a tendency to develop arthritis. Leukonychia describes white streaks or spots on the nails. Koilonychia is an abnormal shape of the fingernail where the nail has raised ridges and is thin and concave. This disorder is associated with iron deficiency anemia. Rounding of the nailbed is typical of COPD Internal diseases: Disorders that affect the amount of oxygen in the blood (such as abnormal heart anatomy and lung diseases including cancer or infection) may produce "clubbing" of the nail, which looks like the back of a teaspoon Kidney disease that causes a build-up of nitrogen waste products in the blood Liver disease including chronic liver failure Thyroid diseases including hyperthyroidism or hypothyroidism may produce brittle nails or splitting of the nail bed from the nail plate (onycholysis) Infection (especially of the heart valve) may produce splinter hemorrhages (red streaks in the nail bed) Heavy metal ingestion Arsenic poisoning may produce white lines and horizontal ridges Silver intake can produce a blue nail Systemic amyloidosis Severe illness or surgery may produce horizontal depressions in the nails (Beau’s lines) Vitamin deficiency can cause a loss of luster or brittle nails Malnutrition of any sort can affect the appearance of the nails Skin diseases: Psoriasis may produce pitting, splitting of nail plate from nail bed (onycholysis), and chronic destruction of the nail plate (nail dystrophy) Lichen planus Heavy metal ingestion Arsenic poisoning may produce white lines and horizontal ridges Silver intake can produce a blue nail Fungus diseases: Funguses, or fungi have often been classified as a type of plant life, for they also resemble plants. Today scientists recognize the funguses as a separate kingdom that is somewhat more closely related to animals. Funguses, like animals, cannot make their own food from sunlight but are dependent ultimately on plants and animals to provide nutrients. More than 100,000 species of funguses have been identified. They include mildews, molds, mushrooms, and yeasts. Most funguses are harmless or beneficial; for example, some are essential to the production of bread, alcoholic beverages, and many antibiotics. It is easy to think of the mushroom as a typical fungus. Fungus diseases, however, result from damage to bodily tissue inflicted by the action of simple single-celled creatures that are somewhat like bacteria in size and function. Causes Funguses can produce illnesses in the same way that bacteria do, either by using parts of attacking cells for nutrients or by releasing toxins. Typically, however, funguses spread by means of spores or budding instead of by rapid cell division as bacteria do. Some funguses cause allergic reactions rather than infections. Among such reactions are asthma, certain kinds of hay fever, and farmers' lung (technically, alveolitis). Bacteria normally present in the body help protect against fungus diseases. Often when a person is taking antibiotics to treat a bacterial infection, the funguses normally present on skin take advantage of the decreased competition and cause problems. Usually when the antibiotic treatment is over, skin bacteria return and once again overcome the fungus. Symptoms of common fungus infections Common fungus diseases that normally prove to be minimally disabling include, in addition to athlete's foot and jock itch, the ailments popularly called ringworm and thrush, as well as fungus growth in or under fingernails and toenails. Athlete's foot, jock itch, and ringworm are all outbreaks of the fungal infection tinea. All appear as skin eruptions. In athlete's foot skin eruptions appear most often between the toes as areas of reddened, itching and peeling skin. Lesions that ooze and bleed may develop in later stages. Eruptions in tinea jock itch similarly appear as itching, scaly, reddened patches of skin in or near the pubic hair in adults or folds of skin in the genital area of children. Ringworm outbreaks usually appear as circular swellings and scaly, peeling sores that burn or itch. They erupt most frequently in the scalp but can develop around the ends of the fingernails or anywhere on the skin. The round, swollen sores of ringworm gave rise to its common name, but its cause is a fungus and not a wormlike parasite. Thrush, more often called candidiasis today, typically develops in the form of white, swollen sores on the surface membrane of the mouth, tongue, or throat. The sores may ooze blood. Candidiasis may also develop in the vagina or anus. It is also the main form of diaper rash. Causes of common fungus infections Tinea infections - athlete's foot, jock itch, and ringworm - are thought not to be contagious from person to person. Instead, the funguses that cause tinea are already present on the skin of most individuals. Such funguses are thought to multiply in sites where skin is irritated, weakened, or continually moist from excessive perspiration. Candidiasis is caused by excess growth of a fungus called Candida albicans, also known as moniliasis. The Candida albicans fungus is ordinarily present in the mouth but expands to infectious extent when its balance with counteracting bacteria also in the mouth is disrupted by factors such as another illness, very poor nutrition, or a compromised immune system.