* ATTENTION: all (described) dermatoglyphic patterns can be observed in the hands of perfectly healthy people as well! In case you are worried about certain hand features, please contact your general practitioner.

Medical assessment on the basis of the fingers

During the past years the work of John T. Manning ('Digit Ratio') has reached the media worldwide. Manning discovered that the so-called 'Digit ratio' (= the ratio of the index finger length and the ring finger length) might become a usefull instrument in the diagnostic perspective of various medical and/or psychological problems. More info about this issue is presented in the section Autism.

Various medical researchers have determined that genetic syndromes are quite frequently accompagnied with thumb abnormalities (these syndromes are frequently accompagnied with a short thumb or a malformed thumb), of digit abnormalities: see the following table (source: Michael L. Richardson, M.D.). However, one should also notice that these hand malformations can incidently as well be observed on people who don't suffer on a syndrome.

English	Docter's language
Short fingers	Brachydactyly
Too many fingers	Polydactyly
Two or more fingers are fused together	Syndactyly
Contractures of fingers	Camptodactyly
Inclined fingers, usually the pinky	Clinodactyly
Long, spider-like fingers	Arachnodactyly

* ATTENTION: all (described) abnormalities can occasionally be observed in the hands of perfectly normal people kunnen! In case you are worried about certain abnormalities in your thumb or fingers, please contact your general practitioner.

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Medical assessment on the basis of the hand lines

Some traditional handanalysts assert that smal irregularities (like for example: breaks and islands) in the three 'primary' palmar hand lines are indicative for health problems.

However, the non-specific character of the hand descriptions and the non-specific descriptions of the medical problems, indicates that these handanalysts might be inclined to overvalue their observations.
Possibly these handanalysts incline to rely too much on the feedback of their clients: the section Handanalysis Psychology deals with the pitfalls which can arise in the interaction between the handanalyst and the client.

In general one can say that scientific research has indicated that certain characteristics of the lines can indeed have some medical significance. However, in isolation these features have no value at all: only certain COMBINATIONS of features can provide a solid basis for a medical diagnosis.

AN EXAMPLE:

Various studies executed by medical researchers have shown that the so-called simian crease is observed in about 60% of people who have Down's syndrome (= mongolism).

From this observation one might jump to the conclusion that the simian line is indicative for Down's syndrome (trisomy 21). However, other studies have shown that the simian line is frequently observed in other diseases and syndromes as well. In Edward's syndrome percentages are reported up to 75% - higher than in Down's syndrome. And one should notice in this matter that the simian line is frequently as well observed in the hands of perfectly healthy people! In other words: a simian line has only medical value when it is observed COMBINED WITH OTHER 'MEDICAL' FEATURES IN THE HAND. For example: the simian line combined with the dermatoglyphics on the fingertips + the distal palmar dermatoglyphics, can be used to discriminate Down's syndrome from Edward's syndrome (picture: Schaumann & Alter, 1976).

Most scientific studies on the palmar lines were focussed merely on the simian line. And the Sydney line has been studied frequently as well.

The diagnostic value of the other lines has not been established yet. However, it is premature to conclude form this observation that traditional handanalysts have gathered more insights on this matter. For, these 'alternative' insights have been contructed merely on the basis of anecdotal evidence - however the objective value of this anecdotal evidence has never been proven.

MORE ABOUT THE SIMIAN CREASE: