When these “4 blacks” appear in the body, what’s wrong?

We know that changes in the body can often reflect the underlying health of the body. Today, we will focus on four "black" changes in the body that may indicate serious health problems or even cancer. Although color itself is neither good nor bad, in the medical field, certain specific color changes are indeed worthy of our high attention. Let's learn about these important health signals together!

Dark lips

Generally speaking, healthy lips are mostly light red , but if you find that the overall color of your lips is dark and dark , and it has been like this for a long time, you need to be alert to the following diseases:

1. Digestive system diseases

The digestive system is the body's "logistics force" responsible for digestion, absorption and waste discharge. When the digestive system is dysfunctional, such as long-term constipation or indigestion, toxins and waste in the body cannot be discharged normally, which may affect the color of the lips through blood circulation, making them darker.

Especially for patients with small intestinal polyps, purple-black or pure black spots often appear on the lower lip, which is a warning signal that cannot be ignored.

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2. Cardiovascular disease

The heart is the "engine" of the body, responsible for transporting blood and oxygen to the whole body. When the heart is not supplied with enough blood or blood circulation is blocked, various parts of the body, especially the lips far away from the heart, will appear black due to lack of oxygen. This may be a sign of heart disease, myocarditis and other diseases.

3. Liver disease

The liver is known as the "master of detoxification" and is responsible for removing toxins and waste from the body. Once liver function is damaged and metabolism is abnormal, melanin will accumulate in the body, causing the lips to darken. Chronic hepatitis and cirrhosis patients often have a dark complexion, as well as melanin deposition around the eyes and lips, forming a typical "liver disease face".

Dark neck

Some people may find that the back or sides of their necks are always black and cannot be washed clean. This is likely a manifestation of acanthosis nigricans . Although acanthosis nigricans itself is mostly benign, it often hides endocrine and metabolic abnormalities.

1. Diabetes Risk

In the pre-diabetes stage, due to insulin resistance, insulin cannot function normally, and excessive insulin will stimulate the proliferation of skin keratinocytes and fibroblasts, causing acanthosis nigricans. If not intervened in time, the risk of diabetes will increase significantly.
2. Polycystic ovary syndrome

This is a common endocrine disease, mainly manifested by menstrual abnormalities and hyperandrogenism. Since patients are often accompanied by obesity and insulin resistance, a considerable number of people will also develop acanthosis nigricans.

3. Visceral tumors

If the symptoms of acanthosis nigricans are widespread and accompanied by strong pain and itching, you should be highly alert to malignant acanthosis nigricans. This disease is often caused by visceral tumors, especially malignant tumors such as gastric cancer, bile duct cancer, and pancreatic cancer .

Black stool

Healthy stools should be yellow or brown in color because the bilirubin in the bile gives the stool its color.

However, if your stool is persistently or intermittently black and does not improve after eliminating food and drug factors, it may be a sign of upper gastrointestinal bleeding .

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When blood stays in the intestines for too long, the hemoglobin released after the red blood cells are destroyed combines with sulfide to produce black ferrous sulfide, which turns the stool black.

Black lines on nails

The black line on the nail is professionally called a nail matrix nevus , which is a mole that grows in the nail. Although most nail matrix nevus are benign, there is still a certain chance that they will turn into melanoma.

Signs of malignant transformation

Sudden increase in width: If the width of the black line on the nail exceeds 3 mm in a short period of time , you should be highly vigilant.

Uneven color: The appearance of multiple discontinuous strips on the same nail with different shades of color is also a sign of malignancy.

Darkening of the skin: Darkening of the skin at the base of the nail and/or distal to the nail bed may be a sign that melanoma has spread to surrounding tissue.

In addition, black lines under the nails may also be caused by inflammation , but they are usually lighter in color and may appear on multiple nails at the same time.