By IANS
London : Women with long ring fingers are likely to face a greater risk of developing arthritis of the knees, a new study suggests.
Men tend to have longer ring fingers than women. However, the study did not find them facing the same risk.
Arthritis is an inflammation of a joint accompanied by pain, swelling and stiffness.
The study by researchers from Nottingham University found that women with uncommonly long ring fingers had almost double the risk ofosteoarthritis in the knees as compared to those with fingers of similar length, reported the online edition of Daily Mail.
In the first ever study to examine the relationship between the two fingers and arthritis, the researchers analysed the hands of 2,000 arthritis patients and 1,000 without arthritis, all in their sixties.
They took X-rays of both hands of the patients and assessed the length of fingers using three methods. These included a direct visual comparison of the two finger ends, the measured ratio from base to the tip of the upper finger joints and the measured ratio of the bone lengths.
Even after risk factors such as joint injury and a lack of exercise were taken into account, the higher risk of arthritis remained for women with long ring fingers.