# White Spots in the Fingernails **URL:** \ **Category:** Cecil's Columns/Staff Reports\ **Created:** [May 31, 2007, 9:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/white-spots-in-the-fingernails/406248 "2007-05-31T21:36:09Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![cerberus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/71e660/32.png) [@cerberus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cerberus)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2007, 11:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/white-spots-in-the-fingernails/406248/81 "2007-06-04T23:12:27Z")
**Underhill** Not to get too BBQ-ey on you, but either **cite** your “material”, or kindly slough off. ---
**Author:** ![aruvqan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aruvqan/32/2891_2.png) [@aruvqan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aruvqan)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2007, 11:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/white-spots-in-the-fingernails/406248/82 "2007-06-04T23:59:03Z")
[QUOTE=David G. Underhill] I wasn’t going to ask him that, I wasn’t even going to ask him if he had smelly feet - a sure sign of zinc deficiency. [/QUOTE] I like the way I mention being a machinist and performing manual labor and it is assumed i am a man … [_not_](http://www.geocities.com/aruvqann/margali.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![Baldwin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baldwin/32/7264_2.png) [@Baldwin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baldwin)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2007, 12:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/white-spots-in-the-fingernails/406248/83 "2007-06-05T00:07:29Z")
[QUOTE=aruvqan] I like the way I mention being a machinist and performing manual labor and it is assumed i am a man … [_not_](http://www.geocities.com/aruvqann/margali.jpg) [/QUOTE] Personally, I love a woman who knows her way around power tools. (OK, to be honest, I might well have made the same assumption, even though I’ve done manual labor beside some pretty strong women.) I just ate a big bowl of pennies. No effect on my tiny penis yet. ---
**Author:** ![Translucent\_Daydream](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/translucent_daydream/32/16170_2.png) [@Translucent\_Daydream](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Translucent_Daydream)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2007, 12:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/white-spots-in-the-fingernails/406248/84 "2007-06-05T00:20:29Z")
Hey Underhill, if I rub my johnson with zinc oxide powder, will it grow like the incredible hulk or something? Because if it will, man oh man, I am callin’ inta wurk tomorrow lemme tell yew whut. ---
**Author:** ![samclem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2007, 12:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/white-spots-in-the-fingernails/406248/85 "2007-06-05T00:29:03Z")
[QUOTE=Baldwin] I just ate a big bowl of pennies. No effect on my tiny penis yet. [/QUOTE] Maybe they were all pre-1982, when cents were copper. But then, controlled experiments aren’t really appreciated in this thread. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/46a35a/32.png) [@Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_T-Bonham.net)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2007, 5:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/white-spots-in-the-fingernails/406248/86 "2007-06-05T05:30:38Z")
[QUOTE=samclem] But then, controlled experiments aren’t really appreciated in this thread. 🙂 [/QUOTE] Aren’t they preferable to _unsupported assertions_, which started in the OP of this thread and continued thru most of it? ---
**Author:** ![Staggerlee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/staggerlee/32/3134_2.png) [@Staggerlee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Staggerlee)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2007, 12:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/white-spots-in-the-fingernails/406248/87 "2007-06-05T12:48:05Z")
[QUOTE=David G. Underhill] …Zinc Aluminum To base mental… [/QUOTE] The whole thread in a nutshell! But seriously, I’ve certainly heard of a link between aluminium and Alzheimer’s - has this been debunked? ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2007, 1:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/white-spots-in-the-fingernails/406248/88 "2007-06-05T13:59:35Z")
From the [National Institute for Health](http://dietary-supplements.info.nih.gov/factsheets/cc/zinc.html#signs) , it seems that if you eat much meat at all you’re going to get plenty of zinc. 3 oz of a chuck roast have 50% of your RDA. You can have too much of a good thing: > [@](#): > > Zinc toxicity has been seen in both acute and chronic forms. Intakes of 150 to 450 mg of zinc per day have been associated with low copper status, altered iron function, reduced immune function, and reduced levels of high-density lipoproteins (the good cholesterol) I have no medical training, but I did stay at a Holiday Inn Express once! ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2007, 2:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/white-spots-in-the-fingernails/406248/89 "2007-06-05T14:02:37Z")
[QUOTE=Canadjun] How about a more recent cite? [Facts about Zinc](http://dietary-supplements.info.nih.gov/factsheets/cc/zinc.html). [/QUOTE] My apologies, I linked to the same place you did. ---
**Author:** ![David\_G.Underhill](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/8baadc/32.png) [@David\_G.Underhill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/David_G.Underhill)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2007, 4:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/white-spots-in-the-fingernails/406248/90 "2007-06-06T04:07:34Z")
[QUOTE=Czarcasm] Do you have any online cites for your claims? [/QUOTE] [http://www.orthomolecularpsychiatry.com/history/](http://www.orthomolecularpsychiatry.com/history/) [http://www.elementalresearchllc.com/zinc.html](http://www.elementalresearchllc.com/zinc.html) A partial bibliography of Dr. Pfeiffer’s work can be found at: > **[biblio\_pfeiffer\_ed](http://www.doctoryourself.com/biblio_pfeiffer_ed.html)** > > Bibliography of the books and papers of Carl C. Pfeiffer, MD, including his work on trace minerals, megavitamin therapy and nutrition. From Carl C. Pfeiffer’s book ZINC AND OTHER MICRO- NUTRIENTS, Keats Publishing, Inc. c 1978 “For every drug that benefits a patient, there is a natural substance that can achieve the same effect.” — Pfeiffer’s Law (Pfeiffer 1908-1988) Hall of Fame 2004 Quote: Case History: Fran and the Fried Oysters. Before listing the food sources of zinc, we must summarize the case history of Fran, a baby adopted at the age of two weeks in August 1955. Although Fran was overactive as a baby, her parents saw no evidence of difficulty until she started school, where she repeated the first grade because of poor learning. Her behavior and learning problems seemed to be emotional in nature, but psychological counseling did not help. In the sixth grade she was diagnosed by a psychiatrist as having minimal brain dysfunction and later by a clinic as having learning disabilities involving poor visual perception and auditory memory. At age thirteen her pediatrician, believing her erratic and irritable behavior might be caused by low blood sugar, finally hospitalized her for three weeks and placed her on a high-protein, sugar-free diet plus vitamins. After she had been in the hospital a few days her behavior - which had been extremely antagonistic and uncooperative much of the time - dramatically and suddenly changed. The unprovoked temper tantrums involving ranting and raving, the cruel swear words - all suddenly stopped. The parents tried to keep her on a sugar-free diet at home. However, for a less-than cooperative teen-ager this was almost impossible, especially since she seemed to have a craving for candy. They learned, after repeated experiences, that candy or candy wrappers could usually be found in her room after one of her destructive tantrums. However, Fran still was in much better condition than before they knew about the sugar. She still was immature, had very poor logic, made mostly C’s and D’s in school. But the tantrums had decreased in frequency and in degree. Her parents had noticed several years before that after Fran had eaten friend oysters she was always unusually alert and cooperative - and never had any tantrums. So they all ate friend oysters an awful lot. They kept wondering what could be in the oysters that could have this effect on her. The parents’ massive reading program included the book Orthomolecular Psychiatry, in one chapter of which Pfeiffer describes a high-histamine-level patient in a way the seemed to fit Fran and recommended a zinc dietary supplement. They also found, in a book on nutrition by Roger Williams that oysters contained 143 mg percent of zinc and that the next best source of zinc was roast beef, with only 6.4 mg percent zinc. This had to be the answer! \*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\* Then, on 27 December 1973, they gave her the first dose of zinc. The very next day she was positively improved. Within two weeks after she had started the zinc she had (1) obtained her driver’s license (for two years she had had a learner’s permit but had not wanted to try for the license); (2) obtained a full-time job from midnight to 8 A.M (the first job she had ever had); and (3) enrolled in a college for a three-hour-per-day course (she had been out of high school for several weeks and had not previously expressed any desire to attend college). Although after two more week she had to drop the college - no time for sleep - they just couldn’t believe the change that had taken place in their Fran. They continued the megavitamins for two months and gave her one Vicon Plus (Meyer Lab multivitamin with 80 mg zinc and 4 mg manganese) in the morning and one chelated zinc (Rick-Life, Inc., 200 mg zinc) in the evening. Then they stopped the megavitamins completely (except what was in the Vicon Plus) but continued the zinc. There was no discernible change - the very great improvement remained. They continued the zinc for a total of 3-1/2 months (from 27 December), then stopped everything to see what would happen. For two days there was little change, but on the third day Fran had a “blowup” - a real temper tantrum. The next day, another. This one included the ranting along in her room. It was the first time such ranting had taken place since she had begun receiving the zinc. One week after they stopped the zinc her behavior had deteriorated so much that they felt they had to resume it. They gave her the zinc capsule at 8:30 A.M.; by that afternoon she was, once again, a changed person - and continues to be, as the zinc is continued. Fran still has problems. She is immature, still has poor logic (although this seems to be improving) and few friends. Her parents have a strong feeling that she has lost the sugar compulsion, although they are not yet certain. But after eighteen years of watching Fran try to cope with her frustrations and failures, the parents thank God she is not in prison. No one can imagine how much the parents are enjoying the new Fran. They say, “She has a great sense of humor, is considerate and fun to be around. THERE IS NO DOUBT WHATSOEVER IN OUR MINDS THAT ZINC HAS SAVED HER.” Unquote I refer again to my statement concerning the fact that I have coined the phrase: Zinc facilitates rationale thought. ---
**Author:** ![David\_G.Underhill](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/8baadc/32.png) [@David\_G.Underhill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/David_G.Underhill)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2007, 5:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/white-spots-in-the-fingernails/406248/91 "2007-06-06T05:23:49Z")
[QUOTE=But seriously, I’ve certainly heard of a link between aluminium and Alzheimer’s - has this been debunked?[/QUOTE] Couldn’t answer that. But there has been a marked increase in research of areas that I feel are really secondary to the aluminum lesions found in the brain. The U.S. aluminum industry is the world’s largest, producing about $33 billion in products and exports annually. The U.S. industry produces more than 22 billion pounds of metal annually and employs 85,000 people with an annual payroll of $3.4 billion. Who funds the new research it? I do not know, but have strong suspicions. A sentence repeated from an early post: The New England Journal of Medicine will announce Thursday that it has given up finding truly independent doctors to write and review articles and editorials for it, as a result of the financial ties physicians have with so many drug companies in the United States. More than 4.5 million Americans are believed to have Alzheimer’s disease and by 2050, the number could increase to 13.2 million. Approximately 65,800 victims die and 350,000 new cases of Alzheimer’s disease are diagnosed each year. America is not alone in dealing with this terrible affliction. In every nation where life expectancy has increased, so has the incidence of Alzheimer’s disease. Alzheimer’s disease is becoming tragically common. It is estimated that there are currently 18 million people worldwide with Alzheimer’s disease. This figure is projected to nearly double by 2025 to 34 million people. What would you do if you found your 33 billion dollar a year industry was responsible for the 100 billion dollar a year industry of health care for Alzheimer’s Disease? One solution is to cloud the issue. Find other things going on in the brain. In April 2007, this development in the cause of Alzheimer’s Disease. Notice that aluminum lesions are not even listed as one of the two possible causes of neurofibrillalry tangles. [http://www.ahaf.org/alzdis/about/adwhtnew\_newsupdates.html](http://www.ahaf.org/alzdis/about/adwhtnew_newsupdates.html) This study with genetically modified mice is the first to show that DHA, an omega-3 fatty acid, can slow the accumulation of tau, a protein that leads to the development of neurofibrillary tangles. Such tangles are one of two signature brain lesions of Alzheimer’s disease. DHA also was found to reduce levels of the protein beta amyloid, which can clump in the brain and form plaques, the other Alzheimer’s lesion. So two possible causes are listed: (1) Tau, a protein, and (2) protein beta amyloid. You might never even find aluminum mentioned in any online cite. I switched majors from Business to Education because my dispositon was a “little soft.” But, if I was associated with a 33 billion dollar industry being blamed for causing 4,500,000 Alzheimer’s Disease victums, I would be out buying up web cites that mention aluminum and Alzheimer’s Disease on the same cite. By the way, there are over one milllion five hundred thousand web sites that mention Alzheimer’s Disease. ---
**Author:** ![Celyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9dc877/32.png) [@Celyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Celyn)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2007, 6:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/white-spots-in-the-fingernails/406248/92 "2007-06-06T06:29:39Z")
[QUOTE=David G. Underhill] … You might never even find aluminum mentioned in any online cite. I switched majors from Business to Education because my dispositon was a “little soft.” But, if I was associated with a 33 billion dollar industry being blamed for causing 4,500,000 Alzheimer’s Disease victums, I would be out buying up web cites that mention aluminum and Alzheimer’s Disease on the same cite. By the way, there are over one milllion five hundred thousand web sites that mention Alzheimer’s Disease. [/QUOTE] I wonder whether a fondness for conspiracy theories can usefully be treated with zinc. ---
**Author:** ![Baldwin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baldwin/32/7264_2.png) [@Baldwin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baldwin)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2007, 10:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/white-spots-in-the-fingernails/406248/93 "2007-06-06T10:33:32Z")
A simple Google search (Alzheimer’s aluminum) got me 489,000 hits. Guess the aluminum consortium better get on the stick. ---
**Author:** ![Surbey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/4491bb/32.png) [@Surbey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Surbey)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2007, 2:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/white-spots-in-the-fingernails/406248/94 "2007-06-06T14:12:40Z")
I don’t understand where all of this “articles” you keep posting are coming from? Instead of writing them all out, word for word, how about you just copy the link and let us see them? Am I wrong or has he provided no cite or source for information other than himself? ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2007, 2:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/white-spots-in-the-fingernails/406248/95 "2007-06-06T14:30:29Z")
[QUOTE=David G. Underhill] You might never even find aluminum mentioned in any online cite. I switched majors from Business to Education because my dispositon was a “little soft.” But, if I was associated with a 33 billion dollar industry being blamed for causing 4,500,000 Alzheimer’s Disease victums, I would be out buying up web cites that mention aluminum and Alzheimer’s Disease on the same cite. [/QUOTE] So they fact that there is very little evidence for a proven link between aluminum and Alzheimer’s is proof that there is a conspiracy to suppress it? :dubious: I will see your conspiracy theory, and raise you a [Cecil Adams](http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a971219.html), who has addressed this issue twice without finding any conclusive evidence for a link between aluminum and Alzheimer’s. ---
**Author:** ![Translucent\_Daydream](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/translucent_daydream/32/16170_2.png) [@Translucent\_Daydream](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Translucent_Daydream)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2007, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/white-spots-in-the-fingernails/406248/96 "2007-06-06T15:50:02Z")
I am still concerned with increasing my man-ness here. ---
**Author:** ![Lisa\_Ann](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/bc79bd/32.png) [@Lisa\_Ann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lisa_Ann)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2007, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/white-spots-in-the-fingernails/406248/97 "2007-06-06T16:27:48Z")
[QUOTE=David G. Underhill] It takes about 6 months for white spots to grow out. As long as you take zinc (with cal and mag) they will not reappear (unless, some literature says you hit them with a hammer, slam them in a car door, or tap them too hard on a desk. If you have PMS, zinc is like a magic pill for the disorder. The flow will be a little more profuse, but the discomfort will be nil. Drop me a line and I will address RA when I have time. My personal experience. [/QUOTE] How do you know I have PMS?! I’m just a little crampy. :mad: I’ll pass on the line. ---
**Author:** ![John\_W.Kennedy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_w.kennedy/32/1031_2.png) [@John\_W.Kennedy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_W.Kennedy)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2007, 1:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/white-spots-in-the-fingernails/406248/98 "2007-06-07T01:01:11Z")
[QUOTE=David G. Underhill] From Carl C. Pfeiffer’s book ZINC AND OTHER MICRO- NUTRIENTS, Keats Publishing, Inc. c 1978 “For every drug that benefits a patient, there is a natural substance that can achieve the same effect.” — Pfeiffer’s Law (Pfeiffer 1908-1988) Hall of Fame 2004 [/quote] In other words, you believe that magic is superior to science. This thread has now become completely pointless. ---
**Author:** ![David\_G.Underhill](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/8baadc/32.png) [@David\_G.Underhill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/David_G.Underhill)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2007, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/white-spots-in-the-fingernails/406248/99 "2007-06-08T19:03:17Z")
[QUOTE=Translucent Daydream] I am still concerned with increasing my man-ness here. [/QUOTE] [http://www.penis-enlargement-options.com/stretching.htm](http://www.penis-enlargement-options.com/stretching.htm) Be careful what you try for. This method has been around, (apparently) for centuries. When monks use it and it reaches 18 inches, they then tie it in a knot to keep it out of the way. About 25 years ago, one of the “scandal” newspapers had a picture of a partially nude man with an 18 incher. Although it was erect, it was so heavy it hung at about a 45 degree angle. ---
**Author:** ![David\_G.Underhill](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/8baadc/32.png) [@David\_G.Underhill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/David_G.Underhill)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2007, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/white-spots-in-the-fingernails/406248/100 "2007-06-09T19:10:05Z")
[QUOTE=Lisa Ann] How do you know I have PMS?! I’m just a little crampy. :mad: In the original response, I said all I had to say about PMS. I was offering to respond on the fact that you mentioned RA. Offer still stands. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/white-spots-in-the-fingernails/406248.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/white-spots-in-the-fingernails/406248.md?page=6)