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Article: Brittle nails: pathogenesis and treatment.
- Article from:
- Journal of Drugs in Dermatology
- Article date:
- January 1, 2003
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2003 Journal of Drugs in Dermatology, Inc. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Brittle nails are a common reason why patients consult a dermatologist. The incidence of brittle nails in the European and North American population is approximately 20%, and women suffer from nail brittleness twice as often as men (1).
There is no concise definition of what constitutes a brittle nail, and there are no characteristic histological findings to help the clinician make this diagnosis. The dermatologist needs to make the diagnosis of brittle nails based on the patient's history and certain non-pathognomonic clinical features. The presenting complaints of patients with brittle nails are often their inability to grow long nails and a description of ...