Palmar dermatoglyphics patterns in diabetes mellitus and diabetic with hypertension patients in Gangtok region

Background: Considerable progress has been made in understanding of the associations between dermatoglyphics and various medical disorders, as a result of which dermatoglyphics analysis has been established as a useful diagnostic and research tool in medicine, providing important insights into the inheritance and embryologic development of many clinical disorders. Materials and Methods: The present study was carried out to evaluate characteristic dermatoglyphic features in subjects with diabetes mellitus and diabetes mellitus with hypertension in Gangtok, Sikkim. Palmar dermatoglyphic analysis on 210 subjects was carried out. Dermatoglyphics prints were taken by ‘Ink method’ described by Cummins and Mildo. Further, statistical analysis was done to find the variations in the dermatoglyphics features in all groups. Result: The a-b ridge counts were higher in all the patients and statistically significant in diabetic females, in right hands of male and left hand of females of diabetic with hypertension. The atd angles were decreased in both hands of male and female both diabetic and diabetic with hypertensive patients than controls. Conclusion: Dermatoglyphic investigation is absolutely cost effective and requires no hospitalization and it can help in predicting the phenotype of possible future illness. It can be used as a screening tool for early identification of at-risk individuals and prevent the further complications.