9/18 Your nails and your lips are not really any redder, or pinker, than the rest of your skin; but the cells forming them are clear and transparent and allow the red blood to show through. This is why we often look at the nails and lips to see what the color of the blood is like, and how well or badly it is circulating. If the blood is _anemic_, or thin, then both lips and nails are pale and dull. If the blood is healthy and the circulation good, then the nails are pink, and the lips clear red. If, on the other hand, the circulation is bad, as in some forms of lung disease and heart disease, so that the blood is loaded with carbonic acid until it is blue and dark, then the lips may become purplish or dark blue, and the finger nails nearly the same color. |