Study links length of ring finger and arthritis

Jan 04:  Till now long ring finger has been associated with creativity of a person, but a very new study has focused light on an association between long ring finger and arthritis in women.

The study conducted by Nottingham University says that a woman with relatively longer ring finger also face greater risk of developing osteoarthritis of the knees as compared to those with fingers of similar length.

The researchers examine 2000 arthritic patients and 1000 other without arthritis in their sixties by taking X-rays and photograph of both the hands. The lengths of the fingers were compared visually, by measuring ratio base to the tip of upper finger joints and the measured ratio of the bone lengths.

In this first ever conducted study of its kind other risk factors such as joint injury and a lack of exercise were taken into account but the findings hold true in women with longer ring finger.

Researchers feel that this fascinating observation would help doctors identify the risk factors associated with it.

Usually males have long ring finger but in them it is not associated with arthritis as in females.

In osteoarthritis, the protective cartilage that cushions between the bones of the joints is eventually lost. It can affect almost any joint in the body but commonly involves the weight-bearing joints of the knees, hips, spine feet and hand.

The researcher Michael Doherty, MD Professor of Rheumatology and colleagues said the basis of their findings could not be explained.

The article published in January edition of Rheumatism and Arthritis says, “The risk of knee osteoarthritis in participants with longer ring finger is nearly twice that for participants without this pattern.�

And “The mechanism that accounts for this association is unknown.�

The researchers added that men were more than 2.5 times more likely than women to have shorter index fingers.

But they also said women who have the "male trait" were more likely to develop certain medical conditions.

The length of fingers get influenced by sex hormones, other studies have linked shorter index finger with male aggressiveness with higher amount of testosterone.

While another study linked length of ring finger with heart attack, as longer the ring finger, the more protected one is against heart attack, because of the raised amount of testosterone.

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