The science of lines on the palm

Now people are asking me to explain why we have lines on our palms. And do they really help in future prediction?

This is my scientific explanation ...

Palmar flexion creases or in lay man terms, the lines on a palm, help the hand's skin stretch and squeeze. They're there to help us fold, stretch, squeeze, scrunch and do other such things without excessively stretching or squeezing the skin on the hands. That's all. They can also help identify certain medical conditions. 

They don't help you in a person's future prediction and are not designed by nature for that purpose!

During the evolutionary process, nature took into account that our ancestors had to fight with others for food, mating and self defence. The clenched fist  delivered same force to a smaller surface area, meaning it could inflict more tissue damage and be likelier to break bones and cause maximum damage. Without the lines on your palm, you cannot clench your fist  in the right way! The clenched fist locks the index finger and the middle finger into place, and that's what makes the fist so stiff.  The configuration prevents people from injuring their hands while dealing deadly blows to others.

Also humanity's ancient ancestors swung from trees, which meant they needed long fingers for grasping branches and lines in their hands to fold and grasp properly.

Then to handle food you need to fold your palms. That can be done only when you have lines  on them!

Human hands develop palmar creases in the womb at around the 12th week of gestation, and are present on a baby's hand when he or she is born. 

When you clench your hand, palm lines provide an avenue for the hand's skin to fold without bunching up and making it difficult to grab onto items. That may also be why there are strong creases where the bones in the fingers and thumb meet.

Most people have three prominent creases across the surface of their palms, but sometimes there is only one crease. 

Having only a single palmar crease (once known as a "simian crease") might indicate abnormal development. It's sometimes present in babies with conditions such as Down syndrome or fetal alcohol syndrome. Simian crease can be inherited normally on either one or both hands.

A doctor, however, takes several other factors into account before making a diagnosis.

The thickness and number of creases on your palms also depend on factors such as family history and race.

Do the palm lines change during a person's life? Yes! 

More specifically, the lines on your active hand (i.e. right hand in most case) changes more often then the passive hand. These changes can take from 6 months to many years to show up on your palm.  The lines on your palm are a network of neuro nerves lying below your skin which are connected to your brain.

Palm line reading is pseudo-science because there is no genuine science behind it. Pseudo-science is a body of knowledge held out to be scientific but it does not comply with the scientific method. It merely uses some scientific words to cheat people. 

 Some people do not see the harm in these simple forms of pseudoscience and believe them to be purely entertainment. Palmistry is also known as chiromancy which comes from the Greek word “cheir” meaning hand. Many people believe that anything that can be traced back as many years as palmistry must be valid. It has after all, withstood the “test of time” as if that were proof in and of itself.  But people's anecdotal evidence doesn't count in science. Nor does 'ancient knowledge'. 

 The reason palmistry falls into the pseudoscience category is because it is cloaked in scientific jargon and actually referred to as a science in many books and on many websites.  Some  palmists even add 'Dr' before their names, simply because they also have some medical degrees like BHMS, MD (Ayurveda). Because, according to these practitioners,  their approach to hand analysis, intuition and healing is described as merging ancient wisdom, science, and spirituality for optimal living and completion of your soul’s journey!

And many believe them because they are doctors and can use science to palm reading to make them authentic. But in reality there is no science behind this type of cheating.

Many books and websites will actually refer to the “science” of palmistry. They offer no scientific proof that palmistry works and yet they try to make it sound like a science. 

But there is no genuine science behind this and palmistry is a certain pseudo-science! Period!