India, Aug. 9 -- Taking care of our nails is part of personal grooming, and many people take that very seriously. They take manicure and pedicure appointments to keep the nails looking good.

However, their natural state can share signs about an individual's overall health, according to Dr Kunal Sood, Dr Kunal Sood, a Maryland-based physician in Anesthesiology and Interventional Pain Medicine. Taking to Instagram on August 8, he shared five such things that can be inferred from a person's nails.

The shape of the nails gives an important clue. As per Dr Sood, spoon-shaped nails, or koilonychia, are classically associated with long-standing iron deficiency.

"They may occur because iron deficiency affects nail growth and keratin formation,...