Chinese Medical Palmistry: Your Health in Your Hand
"In traditional Chinese medicine, examination of parts of the body, such as the tongue or fingernails, can provide valuable information about the health status of the whole individual. According to a venerated Chinese medical text, "if something happens in the interior of the body, it must be reflected in the exterior of the body."While fingernail analysis is a complex and richly detailed diagnostic art, taking into account shape, size, color, appearance, and strength, Xiao-fan Zong and Gary Liscum, authors of Chinese Medical Palmistry: Your Health in Your Hand (Blue Poppy Press, 1995) offer the following self-help guidelines.WHITE Fingernails: When the fingernail appears pale, white, and without luster, this can indicate anemia, or what acupuncturists call "blood vacuity". This denotes a lack of vitality and life force in the blood associated with specific organs, and sometimes literally a shortage of blood."White, waxy fingernails can also indicate ulcerative bleeding or the presence of hookworm or other parasitic infestation, which produces a chronic loss of blood. Tiny white speckles appearing under the fingernails suggest a possible deficiency of calcium or zinc, the activity of intestinal parasites, chronic constipation, or a state of fatigue. A single horizontal white line crossing the nail is typically associated with lead or arsenic poisoning.......... --Alternative Medicine, Oct/Nov. 1998