iPedia Free Information Center

Information about Leukonychia

Leukonychia (or Leuconychia) is a medical term for white discoloration appearing on nails. It is derived from the Greek words Leuko white and Onyx nail. The most common cause is injury to the base of the nail (the matrix) where the nail is formed.

Types of Leukonychia

Leukonychia Totalis

This condition is a whitening of the entire nail. This may be due to hypoalbuminaemia, a genetic condition, or a side effect of sulphonamides, a family of antibiotics.[1]

Leukonychia Partialis

This condition is whitening of parts of the nail. There are several types of this condition.

Leukonychia Striata or Transverse Leukonychia

This is a whitening or discoloration of the nail in bands or "stria". It may be caused by cirrhosis, chemotherapy, or physical injury to the nail matrix. (i.e. excessive nail "tapping" or slamming in a car door).[2]

This condition looks similar to Mee's lines, a condition caused by Arsenic, Lead, or other heavy metal poisoning.

'True' Leukonychia

This is the most common form of Leukonychia, small white spots on the nails. Picking and biting of the nails are a prominent cause in young children and nail biters. In most cases, when white spots appear on a single or a couple of fingers or toes, the most common cause is injury to the base (matrix) of the nail. When this is the case, white spots disappear after around eight months, which is the amount of time necessary for nails to regrow completely.[3]

White spots showing up on all or nearly all nails for longer periods of time (months and years) can be due to one of several reasons. One common explanation is zinc deficiency.[4]

Diagnosis and treatment

A doctor will take a thorough medical history, and may test liver and kidney function. If a zinc deficiency is identified, a diet rich in zinc or zinc supplements may be administered.

References

External links

nail is a horn-like structure at the end of a human's or an animal's finger or toe. See also claw.

Parts of the nail

Anatomically fingernails and toenails
..... Click the link for more information.
Genetics is the science of heredity and variation in living organisms.[1][2] Knowledge of the inheritance of characteristics has been implicitly used since prehistoric times for improving crop plants and animals through selective breeding.
..... Click the link for more information.
There are several sulphonamide-based groups of drugs. The original antibacterial sulfonamides (sometimes called simply sulfa drugs) are synthetic antimicrobial agents that contain the sulfonamide group. Some sulfonamides are also devoid of antibacterial activity, e.g.
..... Click the link for more information.
antibiotic is a chemotherapeutic agent that inhibits or abolishes the growth of micro-organisms, such as bacteria, fungi, or protozoans. The term originally referred to any agent with biological activity against living organisms; however, "antibiotic" now is used to refer to
..... Click the link for more information.
MeSH D008103 Cirrhosis is a consequence of chronic liver disease characterized by replacement of liver tissue by fibrotic scar tissue as well as regenerative nodules, leading to progressive loss of liver function.
..... Click the link for more information.
Chemotherapy is the use of chemical substances to treat disease. In its modern-day use, it refers to cytotoxic drugs used to treat cancer or the combination of these drugs into a standardized treatment regimen.
..... Click the link for more information.
Mees' lines or Aldrich-Mees' lines are lines of discoloration across the nails of the fingers and toes after an episode of poisoning with arsenic or thallium or other heavy metals. They can also appear if the subject is suffering from renal failure.
..... Click the link for more information.
3, 5
(mildly acidic oxide)
Electronegativity 2.18 (scale Pauling)
Ionization energies
(more) 1st: 947.0 kJmol−1
2nd: 1798 kJmol−1
3rd: 2735 kJmol−1
..... Click the link for more information.
2
(Amphoteric oxide)
Electronegativity 2.33 (scale Pauling)
Ionization energies
(more) 1st: 715.6 kJmol−1
2nd: 1450.5 kJmol−1
3rd: 3081.
..... Click the link for more information.
Heavy metal (sometimes referred to simply as metal) is a genre of rock music[1] that developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s.[2] With roots in blues-rock and psychedelic rock, the bands that created heavy metal developed a thick, heavy,
..... Click the link for more information.
Zinc (IPA: /ˈzɪŋk/, from German: Zink) is a chemical element in the periodic table that has the symbol Zn and atomic number 30.
..... Click the link for more information.
medical history or anamnesis[1][2] of a patient is information gained by a physician or other healthcare professional by asking specific questions, either of the patient or of other people who know the person and can give suitable information (in this
..... Click the link for more information.
liver is an organ present in vertebrates and some other animals. It plays a major role in metabolism and has a number of functions in the body, including glycogen storage, decomposition of red blood cells, plasma protein synthesis, and detoxification.
..... Click the link for more information.
The kidneys are organs that filter wastes (such as urea) from the blood and excrete them, along with water, as urine. The medical field that studies the kidneys and diseases of the kidney is called nephrology[1].
..... Click the link for more information.


This article is copied from an article on Wikipedia.org - the free encyclopedia created and edited by online user community. The text was not checked or edited by anyone on our staff. Although the vast majority of the wikipedia encyclopedia articles provide accurate and timely information please do not assume the accuracy of any particular article. This article is distributed under the terms of GNU Free Documentation License.
Herod_Archelaus


page counter