[많건부] The bigger the white half-moon shape on your nails, the healthier they are?

[‘많건부’는 ‘많은 건강정보 부탁해’의 준말로 일상에서 궁금증을 불러일으키는 아리송한 건강상식을 풀어드리는 코너입니다. 건강을 위한 정직한 지식 코메디닷컴의 많건부, ‘많’은 ‘관’심 ‘부’탁드립니다.]

They say you can tell your health by looking at your fingernails. If the color suddenly changes or if white spots or lines appear, it is highly likely that it is an abnormal sign that there is a health problem. Perhaps that is why many people think that the larger the half-moon shaped white area under the nail, the healthier the nail. Is this true?

Fingernails are translucent, hard keratin plates. Under the root of the nail, which is made of a protein called keratin, there are hair cells that grow the nail. When these mother cells divide and are pushed out, they take on the shape of a nail that we can see with our eyes and become hard.

The white part under the nail is called the ‘nail semi-moon’. This nail crescent is composed of mother cells that have not yet divided. This means that your unfinished nails will appear in a white half-moon shape. The reason it looks white is because the adhesive force with the nail bed is designed to be weak so that the nail can be easily pushed out after it grows.

Is it healthy to have half-moon nails, or if there are a lot of them?

In fact, the presence or size of nail crescents has little to do with health. Nail half-moon tends to be determined congenitally. In fact, there are reports that the size of nail crescents varies depending on race, and that people of color are more likely to have nail crescents. Also, nail crescents may appear and disappear, or they may appear and disappear, depending on the speed of nail growth.

However, if the size or color of the nail half moon has noticeably changed, you need to take a look at your health. If the size increases rapidly, hyperthyroidism may be suspected. If the nail itself, including the half moon of the nail, has turned yellow, it may be lymphedema. If the half moon appears red, rheumatoid arthritis, cirrhosis, or psoriasis may be suspected. If other symptoms of each disease are accompanied, you should visit a hospital. White spots and horizontal or vertical lines on the nails may be a sign of nutritional deficiencies, skin disease, or internal organ abnormalities.

You need to keep an eye on the half-moon shaped white spots on your nails as you trim them to see if they change in size or color, right?