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"Manly" hands might signal an increased risk of suffering a knee injury, if a new study is correct.
The study, of more than 1,000 middle-aged and older adults, found a higher risk of knee injuries among men with a bigger discrepancy in the lengths of their index and ring fingers.
In general, men tend to have relatively short index fingers and longer ring fingers, while women show more equality in those two digits. A greater difference between the two fingers - whether in a man or a woman - is thought to reflect greater exposure to testosterone in the womb.
Some studies have linked the "male" finger pattern to higher aggression levels and athletic prowess. Others have tied the pattern to certain health conditions, including arthritis in the knee and hand.
Early testosterone exposure
No one knows why those links exist, but one theory is that early testosterone exposure is at play.
The cartilage that cushions the joints is sensitive to testosterone, so it's possible that greater exposure to the hormone somehow makes the tissue more vulnerable to damage.
And since the finger pattern has been tied to aggression and sports skills, it's also possible that men with the pattern are more likely to be in situations where they could be injured, researchers said in a paper published in Arthritis & Rheumatism.
Led by Dr Ida K. Haugen of Diakonhjemmet Hospital in Oslo, Norway, the researchers analysed data on 1,020 US adults ages 51 to 92 in the Framingham community cohort, focusing on their history of knee injuries and arthritis symptoms. They also looked at X-rays of subjects' hands and knees.
The findings
Overall, 28% of men and 23% of women said they'd ever had a knee injury that kept them off their feet for at least a few days. The odds of having had such an injury were 78% higher among the one-third of men with the biggest finger-length disparity, versus the one-third with the smallest discrepancy.
There was no link between finger length and knee injuries among women. Nor was there a relationship between finger length and knee arthritis in men or women.
The likelihood of hand arthritis was about a third higher in women with disparate finger lengths. The researchers concluded, however, that arthritis affecting finger joints might be the cause, rather than the consequence, of the length differences in individual women's fingers.
So should men with long ring fingers worry about their knees?
Probably not. Researchers are mainly interested in the finger-length question for the insights it might give into the biology of certain health conditions or certain types of behaviour, like aggression.
The risk of any one person suffering a knee injury or arthritis would depend much more on factors like age, physical activity and body weight. (Reuters Health/ May 2011)
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