Here is the "Experts Say" section, listen to experts say health. The column content was first published on the Doctor Lilac app.
In this issue, we invite Kang Yu, a hand surgeon at Union Hospital affiliated to Tongji Medical College of Huazhong University of Science and Technology, to introduce to you whether the "crescent moon" on your finger is related to health.
A few days ago, my friend Xiaomei sent a few photos of her fingers, and asked worriedly that she could not see the crescent moon on her nails, was it a serious illness? It turned out that she had gone to the manicure the other day, and the manicurist saw that there was no crescent on her nails and said that it might be a sign of getting sick. She sent a question mark, and I gave her 10 question marks back.
Looking up on the Internet, I found that many health posts and tweets mentioned that the crescent of the nails is a signal light for physical diseases. Without it, it proves that there is a problem with the body, and the more crescents it is, the healthier the body.
So, can the crescent on the nail really reflect the physical condition? We need to use science to speak, first to understand the structure of the lower nails.
Structure of the nails
The hard cuticle plate that covers the end of the back of the finger is the deck, the nails that we need to trim from time to time. The nail grows from the hair-growing area at the base of the nail (nail matrix).
Image source: Dr. Kang Yu homemade
Alphaplastytic cells grow faster, and the number of middle is more than on both sides, aging on-the-nail cells at the base of the nail by the newborn cells to the periphery, forming a crescent-shaped white area at the base of the nail, called the crescent moon, which is what we call today as the "crescent".
The skin that covers the periphery of the deck is a nail fold, including proximal nail folds and lateral margin nail folds. It is the part where the redness and swelling of paronychia usually occur.
Normal nails and toenails resemble "tiles", are curved and translucent, and look pink because the subparathyroid dermis is rich in blood vessels. The nail growth rate is 1 cm every 3 months and the toenail growth rate is about 1 cm every 9 months, and the specific growth rate varies depending on factors such as age, nutritional status, environment and living habits.
The relationship between the crescent and health
The number and size of the crescent moon are related to the growth rate of the nail and the metabolic rate of the body, in general, the nail grows faster, and the crescent is easy to appear.
Thumb nails grow faster and little finger nails grow slower, so the crescent of the thumb is more common and the crescent of the little finger is less common. Therefore, there is no scientific basis for judging health by whether or not you can see the crescent or the number of crescents.
Image source: Stand Cool Helo
Of course, the above refers to a constant number of crescents, either the crescent has not been there, or it has always been. If you find that the crescent moon suddenly changes, such as suddenly large and small, repeatedly disappearing and appearing, or obvious changes in color, shape, etc., then you have to pay attention.
We yellow people, usually the crescent is white or light pink. However, some lesions have been reported to change the color of the crescent, such as the crescent moon becoming significantly red, black, and becoming V-shaped or large enough to cover most of the nail bed.
Diseases associated with changes in metabolism, such as hyperthyroidism, or malnutrition due to various causes, can cause the mother of nail to be inadequately nourished, the rate of cell division is slowed down, and the crescent may disappear.
The malignant tumors at the end of the fingers and the tumors under the nails will also cause obvious changes in the color and size of the nails or crescents.
Therefore, whether the nails have crescents or not, and the number of crescents has nothing to do with whether they are healthy or unhealthy. However, the sudden change of the crescent or nail, combined with abnormal feelings such as body or local discomfort, needs to be paid attention to and timely medical treatment.
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bibliography
[1] D. de Berker, Nail anatomy, Clin Dermatol, 31 (2013) 509-515.
[2] P.R. Cohen, The lunula, J Am Acad Dermatol, 34 (1996) 943-953; quiz 954-946.
[3] S.L. Schneider, A. Tosti, Tips to diagnose uncommon nail disorders, Dermatol Clin, 33 (2015) 197-205.
[4] U. Runne, C.E. Orfanos, The human nail: structure, growth and pathological changes, Curr Probl Dermatol, 9 (1981) 102-149
[5] Zhang Xuejun, Dermatological venereal diseases (Eighth Edition), (2013) 12
Planning and production
Curator: Jesse | Executive Producer: Meng Meng | Typography: Star Moon
Scientific review: Wei Wei
This content only represents the personal views of the author and has nothing to do with the position of this platform.