RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 Human nails and body iron.
JF Journal of Clinical Pathology
JO J Clin Pathol
FD BMJ Publishing Group Ltd and Association of Clinical Pathologists
SP 1068
OP 1072
DO 10.1136/jcp.31.11.1068
VO 31
IS 11
A1 Sobolewski, S
A1 Lawrence, A C
A1 Bagshaw, P
YR 1978
UL http://jcp.bmj.com/content/31/11/1068.abstract
AB The iron content of human nails has been measured by atomic absorption spectrophotometry and compared with other measurements of iron status including the bone marrow. Four groups of individuals were studied: 40 healthy laboratory staff, five iron-deficient subjects before and during iron therapy, four patients at various stages of treatment with iron, and 15 postmortem cases. The iron status of the individual was reflected by the amount of iron present in nail samples. Nail sampling is proposed as a cheap, noninvasive method of assessing the iron status of the individual.