white nails with a rim of darker color at the tip of the nail is called Terry’s nail and rarely a sign of a severe liver disease called cirrhosis. Most people with this nail change are otherwise in good health.
Brittle nails, onychoschizia and onychorrhexis, are often a condition of the elderly.
The skin around the edge of the nail can be damaged by many things. It is unusual in that aside from the retina the capillary morphology can be evaluated using magnification. Damaged capillaries caused by certain autoimmune collagen vascular disease can give the skin and cuticle a “moth-eaten” appearance.
Changes in the nails occasionally may signal a significant systemic disease. Most of the time, nail signs are self-limited and tend to resolve on their own. Patience is a necessity in dealing with nails because their turnover is slow. It may take many months for a damaged nail to replace itself entirely.
The so-called “yellow nail syndrome” occurs in patients with serious pulmonary disease and lymphedema (swelling of the extremities). In these patients, most if not all of the nails are yellowish.
Reviewed by Norman Levine. MD on 5/3/2016