Incidence of Brittle Nails

Abstract

Only few reports exist about the occurrence of brittle nails. We examined 1,584 persons with respect to the incidence of this anomaly. The patients were from five different groups: outpatients of a dental clinic, blood donors, residents of an old people’s home, patients of a clinic for internal diseases and patients of a general practice. Approximately 20% of the subjects examined had brittle nails. Women suffered from brittleness of nails much more frequently than men (27 vs. 13%) with a ratio of men to women from 1:1.6 to 1:7 depending on age. 44% of the subjects affected (75% of the females, 25% of the males) had tried one or several treatments but only 26% believed in their curative effect. The market for the therapy of brittle nails in the FRG is estimated to be between 2 and 4 million people.

Wet Working Conditions Increase Brittleness of Nails, but Do Not Cause It

“…The incidence rate of brittle nails in other European countries and in North America is thought to be similar [2], The term brittle nails includes lamellar dystro phy (onychoschizia) as well as roughness and splitting of the free edge of the nail [3]. In an earlier study, we found a much higher incidence of brittle nails in women aged between 15 and 50 years as compared to men [1]. The fact that brittle nails are much more common in females could be either due to a constitutional characteristic or otherwise indicate sex-specific environmental factors.…”

“…About 20% of the German population show symptoms of brittle nails [1]. The incidence rate of brittle nails in other European countries and in North America is thought to be similar [2], The term brittle nails includes lamellar dystro phy (onychoschizia) as well as roughness and splitting of the free edge of the nail [3].…”

“…This is why we determined the incidence of brittle nails in both men and women in professions that involve frequent hand contact with water and/or dampness. The data were compared with those of a large, non-selected control group already published in an earlier report [1].…”

Effect of urea nail lacquer on nail quality

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Originalien Hintergrund und FragestellungBrüchige, splitternde wie auch weiche Nä-gel sind ein sehr häufiges Problem, unter dem ungefähr 20% der Bevölkerung leiden, wobei Frauen etwa doppelt so häufig betroffen sind wie Männer [12,17,21,22]. Klinisch können -isoliert oder kombiniert -vermehrte Brüchigkeit der Nagelplatte mit schichtweisem Abblättern vom distalen Rand (Onychoschisis) und/oder längsfaserigem Aufsplittern (Onychorrhexis) sowie bröckliges oder querlaufendes Abbrechen beobachtet werden, wobei der Begriff "brüchige Nägel" klinisch wie auch pathogenetisch nicht eindeutig definiert ist [12,22].

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“…Klinisch können -isoliert oder kombiniert -vermehrte Brüchigkeit der Nagelplatte mit schichtweisem Abblättern vom distalen Rand (Onychoschisis) und/oder längsfaserigem Aufsplittern (Onychorrhexis) sowie bröckliges oder querlaufendes Abbrechen beobachtet werden, wobei der Begriff "brüchige Nägel" klinisch wie auch pathogenetisch nicht eindeutig definiert ist [12,22]. Abgesehen von den medizinisch relevanten Onychodystrophien bei Pilzerkrankungen oder spezifischen Dermatosen wie Psoriasis und Lichen ruber und dem behandlungsbedürftigen "brittle nail syndrom" (BNS), wird für brüchige Nägel kosmetisch relevanter Ausprägung v. a. eine durch extrinsische Einflüsse bedingte Auflösung der Zementsubstanz zwischen den Hornlamellen der Nagelplatte mit nachfolgender Dehydratation verantwortlich gemacht [13,17,22].…”