white dots on nails

hi

i have white dots on my nails for more then 5 months now, they wont go, i was being investigated for liver issues but it turns out it was fatty liver, i decided to start losing weight and stuff, wel i lost 2 stones quite rapidly, could this have caused the dots? but its been a good few months i havent lost weight, i have gone back to my normal diet too, i heard liver issues can cause them but are rare and kidney disease, would this be due to the rapid weight losss?

some kind of defficiency? i tried taking calciium tabs and zinc tabs they dont really  fix the dots.`

[Bhupinder Kaur, MD]

Hello,
The symptoms are suggestive of leuconychia. It is a medical term for white discoloration appearing on nails. Causes of leuconychia are trauma to the nail, zinc deficiency, hypoalbuminaemia (low albumin), which is caused by the nephrotic syndrome (a form of kidney failure), liver failure, protein malabsorption and protein-losing enteropathies.  My sincere advice is to consult a physician and get all these possibilities evaluated.

I hope it helps. Take care and God bless.

[craigfurber]

hi

thanks for the reply, i tried zinc for a while it didnt help, i was given vitamin d3 with calcium
that seems to help clear the white dots, also vitamin b3 (niacin) helps clear them too, but they do come back when i stop any of these suppliments? i do get joint and bone pains at times too.


thanks  craig

[Bhupinder Kaur, MD]

Hello,
If you are having joint pains along with these white spots then get an evaluation done from a physician and get all the above mentioned causes ruled out. It can be due to low proteins like albumin or liver causes.

I hope it helps. Take care and regards.