Bad toenails linked to heart disease

Toenails can tell a lot about a person.

For men, it can tell just how much care he takes over personal grooming and general cleaniness.

For women, according to a recent US study, it can tell you how likely they are to suffer from a heart attack.

Now, if you have horrible, crusty toenails, don’t start rushing to the hospital clutching your chest and telling anyone who would listen that you are on the brink of arrest.

The likelihood of heart disease has nothing to do with foot fungus or disgusting in-growing toenails.

Although, if your feet are that bad you really should get it checked out. It’s actually more to do with smoking, and how much nicotine traces there are in a woman’s clippings.

Now, if you are not a smoker, don’t start dancing around the room just yet - because passive smoking obviously can still increase your heart disease risk.

In fact, researchers say the test - carried out on 62,500 women - could be a far more accurate way of assessing someone’s heart disease risk than asking about their smoking habits and history.

Altogether 900 women were diagnosed with heart disease over the period of the American Journal of Epidemiology study. The women in the top fifth for toenail nicotine content tended to be thinner, less active, heavier drinkers.

They also were more likely to have high blood pressure or diabetes, as well as a family history of heart attacks compared to those with less nicotine in their toenails, the researchers found.

Interestingly, they also found the nicotine contained in toenails was a risk factor for heart disease independently of the number of cigarettes a person smoked.

Speaking to the BBC, Dr Al-Delaimy, a researcher at the University of California, San Diego, said: “The use of toenail nicotine is a novel way to objectively measure exposure to tobacco smoke and could become a useful test to identify high-risk individuals in the future.”

Ellen Mason, a cardiac nurse at the British Heart Foundation (BHF) told the BBC the study emphasised that smokers are storing up health problems for the future.

She said: “Men and women who smoke are around twice as likely to suffer a heart attack in their lifetimes as those who don’t, and quitting smoking is one of the most effective ways to reduce this risk.

“People using nicotine replacement therapy should not be alarmed by this study as it is the other chemicals inhaled when smoking, such as carbon monoxide that cause the risk of heart disease, not nicotine.”

Picture: Morguefile

Source: BBC