Dermatoglyphics: The Future of Screening Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus?

BACKGROUND: Dermatoglyphics is a very old technique utilized for identity and distinguishing purposes, as it is firmly related to genetics. Researchers are attempting to utilize fingerprints to diagnose various diseases. This study was aimed at determining the percent distribution of fingerprint patterns and to find out any potential variation between the fingerprints of diabetic and healthy individuals. METHODS: A comparative study was carried out on 200 individuals at Diabetic Clinic of a tertiary care hospital. 100 participants were patients with uncontrolled diabetes mellitus type 2 (cases) and 100 healthy individuals (controls) were enrolled. Fingerprints of participants were obtained with care on white sheets following the "Cummins and Midlo" method and then categorized as whorls, loops, and arches using Henry's categorization methodology. Fingerprint patterns were compared among both groups, and statistical analysis was done to compare variations. RESULTS: The mean age of participants was 57.5 ± 9.2 years, and there were 48% males and 52% females. Whorl patterns were found to be more common in both cases and controls (56.2% and 60.8%), followed by loops (38.8% and 31.6%), and then arches (7.6% and 5%). Overall, we found that loops were more prevalent in all fingers of diabetics except the thumbs (57%), where loops were significantly lower (40%). Similarly, whorls were more common in the fingers of healthy individuals (53%), except in the thumbs, where whorls were less prevalent (42%). CONCLUSION: Present investigation proposes that finger patterns in thumbs can be helpful in differentiating between diabetics and non-diabetics, however, it is difficult to use Henry’s classification for mass screening of diabetes mellitus, but there is a beam of hope that further patterns identification and itemized investigations can help us use dermatoglyphics in screening of different diseases.