London: Do you have club fingers? Then it's possible you may have lung cancer. A new study in the latest issue of the Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine reveals your hands can provide clues to hidden diseases you may have.
Researchers came to this conclusion after studying the palms of a woman tested positive for ovarian cancer.
A 74-year-old woman who was otherwise healthy sought medical help for hard lumps that had developed on her palms. These had gradually spread and joined together, giving the palm a 'wooden' feeling, making movement difficult and painful.
Doctors could not find anything obviously wrong, but she was tested for - and diagnosed with - ovarian cancer after they read medical literature and found that the lumps (called palmar fasciitis) were a rare sign of the disease.
Why a tumour has this effect on hands remains a mystery. But one theory is that cancer cells pump out chemicals that trigger fibrosis, or scarring of tissue.
The study's author, Graham Easton, who has a special interest in hands, says they can provide essential clues on a patient's well-being.
"I always try to shake hands when I meet a patient for the first time," Easton, a family doctor in London, told the Daily Mail.
"I'm not being polite - their hands are packed with information about their general health, from whether they might have a thyroid problem to signs of osteoarthritis. In fact, doctors can often tell more about someone's health by their hands than their face."
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