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HAND SIGNALS - MEDICAL PALMISTRY COMES OF AGE

Kate Nivison

If you are the sort of person who firmly resists having your palm read by the local
Madame Zsa Zsa, you could be in for a surprise if one day your GP tries it. You might
even be asked for your fingerprints.
According to Medical Palmistry` by N. Altman and Dr E. Scheimann, palmistry is
about to move back into the surgery from the fair ground where 19
th
century medical
science banished it. It claims that reading a patient`s hand in the light oI recent discoveries
can be a highly effective, non-invasive method oI diagnosis. It doesn`t hurt, and it`s
cheap.
Behind this claim is the idea that the hand itself is a kind of living computer
providing a print-out` oI the individual`s constitutional make-up and personality. It starts
with the most obvious signs, like hand gestures, general appearance, texture, shape and
flexibility. Then it moves on to the nails (already a recognised barometer of health in their
own right) and into the complex business of palm lines and ridge patterns. The idea is not
to foretell the future, but to pick up what the hand might show about certain health
tendencies, which can then be worked on and overcome.
The best known aspect of hand reading is chiroglyphics the study of lines on the
palm the liIe, heart, Iate lines and so on. But according to Medical Palmistry`, even a
short liIe line (the one curving round nearest the thumb) doesn`t mean you are going to
die young. It`s more a case oI the depth oI the line indicating your general zest for living.
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II you don`t like the look oI it, then improving your selI-image and learning to enjoy life
more will soon be reflected in a stronger life line.
A newer development is the study of dermatoglyphs literally, skin carvings the
ridge patterns on the skin surIace. As every burglar knows, each individual`s Iingerprints
are unique, but prints for the whole hand are now being studied by doctors as well as
detectives. The Department of Genetics at the University of Hawaii is just one of many
institutions world-wide researching the connection between skin ridge patterns and
potential killers like congenital heart disease, thyroid cancer and Alzheimer`s Disease.
Our skin ridges are formed in the first four months in the womb, and never change,
except in size or through injury. Dozens of major physical and mental problems can be
linked to skin ridge patterns alone. A proper reading of all aspects of the hand could give
clinical information or early warning of at least 50 different diseases, and lead to a better
understanding of the vital interplay between our personality, genetic make-up and general
health.