Source: www.nailcareguide.com

Take a look at your fingernails. Are they strong and healthy-looking? Or do you see ridges, or areas of unusual color or shape? The condition of your nails may offer clues to your general health. Illness can cause changes in your nails that your doctor can use to develop diagnose. Here are a few nail disorders that may be linked with illnesses:

• Beau's lines — Indentations that run across your nail. This can appear when growth at the matrix (nail root) is disturbed by severe illness such as a heart attack, measles, or pneumonia.
  
• Clubbing — Your fingertips widen and become round while the nails curve around your fingertips. Caused by enlargement in connective tissue as compensation for a chronic lack of oxygen. Lung disease is present in 80 percent of people who have clubbed fingers.
  
• Half-and-Half (Lindsay's nails) — Look for an arc of brownish discoloration. May appear in a small percentage of people who have a kidney disorder.
  
• Onycholysis — The nail separates from the nail bed. Most of the time, this problem is associated with physical injury (trauma), psoriasis, drug reactions, fungal disease or contact dermatitis from using nail hardeners. Sometimes onycholysis can be related to an over - or under-active thyroid gland, iron deficiency, or syphilis.
  
• Spoon nails — Soft nails that look scooped out. Depression is usually large enough to hold a drop of liquid. This condition often indicates iron deficiency.
  
• Terry's nails — The nail looks opaque and white, but the nail tip has a dark pink to brown band. This can be a symptom of cirrhosis, congestive heart failure, adult-onset diabetes, cancer, or aging.

*Remember that the nail conditions described above are in no way definitive proof of a bigger health problem. Please consult with a medical professional for a reliable diagnosis.

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