EVENING. Health. HEALTH LINE. Letters.

Q. Of late my fingernails are changing, and I'm wondering...

May 24, 1993|By Dr. Allan Bruckheim, (copyright) Tribune Media Services Inc.

Q. Of late my fingernails are changing, and I'm wondering if this is caused by some hidden disease. The nail now has ridges running down its length, and though I used to clip them regularly once a month, there isn't much to cut away now. Is there any explanation for all of this?

A. While the fingernails' changing appearance can be a sign of an underlying medical condition, the reason in your case is a bit less frightening. The signs you mention are a result of a normal aging process.

The metabolism of the human body slows just a bit as age advances, and so nails grow more slowly and often show vertical ridges that may cause concern, but do not signify any health problems. The average growth rate of a fingernail is about one-eighth to one-quarter inch per month, while the speed of toenail growth is only one-third to one-half as much. Thus it takes about five and a half months to replace a fingernail, and well over a year for a toenail to grow in.

Other factors also affect growth rate. Growth is slower in cold weather, slower at night, and the shorter the finger the slower the growth. Nail growth in women is faster during their menstrual periods and pregnancies.

Nails also may suffer from local problems like fungus or bacterial infections. In such cases, there may be signs of local inflammation, nail discoloration, abnormal thickening and even loosening of the nail. However, your complaints can be added to some of the others that aging brings, a bit disturbing but far from serious, at least not in this case.

Q. How much cholesterol is contained in palm oil? Is that the reason it was taken off the market? Would substituting palm kernel oil lessen my problem? I have this special cake recipe I want to use, but my family is so health conscious that I fear I will be chastised if I don't pay attention to the cholesterol content.

A. You need have no fear of cholesterol from either palm oil or palm kernel oil. Vegetable oils, even tropical oils (and that includes coconut oils as well), never contain cholesterol, which is only found in animal products.

However, tropical oils are notorious for the amounts of saturated oil they contain and that is just as bad for your health. To compare the two, palm oil is 51 percent saturated, while palm kernel oil is 86 percent saturated. Coconut oil takes the prize though, as it is 92 percent saturated oil.

Though they were never taken off the market and are still available, most American manufacturers of food and baked goods, for the most part, voluntarily abandoned the use of tropical oils in 1989.

The effects of saturated oils on blood cholesterol levels can be quite serious, even if they themselves do not contain cholesterol. Despite that, there are still a few products, including chocolate-covered cookies, coffee whiteners, some brands of potato chips and whipped toppings, that contain these oils. You can choose to avoid these products by carefully studying the labels, and selecting only those products that are free of tropical oils.

As for your baking, alas, I'm no gourmet cook, but am sure that there are many other baking oil products that can meet with your family's health priorities and still permit you to prepare your specialty with little change in its flavor or allure.

