Ratio between fingers could mean greater risk of knee osteoarthritis
A potential link has been found between risk of developing osteoarthritis in the knee and people’s index/ring finger ratios, reveals research in Rheumatology that involved 14,511 participants. (index = 2nd finger, ring = 4th finger)
Experts measured finger ratios of the volunteers from hand photocopies and looked at records of total knee replacement and total hip replacement over a 10.5 year follow-up period.
They found that lower index-to-ring finger length ratio was associated with a higher risk of knee replacement; the risk was stronger with the right hand. But the ratio had no impact on likelihood of hip replacement.
“Although our study’s results may in part be explained by joint injuries associated with high-level physical activity in those with a lower index-to-ring finger length ratio and the greater susceptibility of knee osteoarthritis in response to injury than hip osteoarthritis, they may also reflect hormonal influences on the growth of bone, cartilage and soft tissue, which warrants further investigation,” says study lead, Dr Yuanyuan Wang.
Click here to read the original research.
