Your Fingernails Can Predict How Long You’ll Live, According To Research
Who knew fingernails could be such a strong indicator of longevity?
yanishevska | Shutterstock If you’ve ever wondered how long your life will last, the answer may literally be at your fingertips. A study concluded that your longevity can be determined by something surprising: your fingernails.
A decades-old study found that fingernail growth can predict how long you'll live.
In a 1979 study published in the Journal of Investigative Dermatology, researchers Norman Orentreich, Jules Markofsky, and Joseph H. Vogelman measured the nail growth of both humans and beagles to find a correlation between fingernail growth and aging.
“The rate of linear nail growth decreases 50% over the life spans of both dogs and humans,” they reported. “In the beagle, which has a life span 20% that of man, the rate of decrease is five times faster than in man.”
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For humans, fingernail growth decreased by 0.5% weekly from the age of 30. In other words, if your fingernails grow faster than this, there’s a chance that you’re aging more slowly. The slower your nails grow, the more quickly you’re aging.
While the researchers’ primary aim was to measure nail growth, they also delved into the world of keratin. According to the Cleveland Clinic, “Keratin is a protein that helps form hair, nails, and your skin’s outer layer (epidermis). It helps support your skin, heal wounds, and keep your nails and hair healthy.”
Researchers called keratin “the most accessible tissue of the most accessible organ, the skin, for the scientific study of aging,” and noted that measuring human aging was really equivalent to measuring the rate at which keratin aged.
A longevity doctor recently referenced the 1979 study when explaining how nail growth can indicate aging.
Per the Daily Mail, Dr. David Sinclair, a Harvard Medical School genetics expert, cited the study from 1979 when discussing biological aging — a term used to describe the apparent age of cells and tissues based on their function, rather than the number of birthdays a person has had.
Sinclair discussed the researchers’ findings on his podcast, Lifespan. “I do pay attention to whether my nails are slowing down in their growth or not,” he shared. “Every time I have to cut my nails, I’m thinking, how long ago did I cut my nails?”
Based on the study, if you want to live a long life, needing to trim your nails more frequently is a good sign. Of course, we have no actual control over how quickly our nails grow. It is simply an interesting scientific indicator to take note of.
Interestingly enough, Sinclair has a connection to dogs, just like the original researchers did.
The researchers used beagles in 1979 to support their findings and Sinclair has a link to dogs as well. His is much less reputable, though.
“While a respected expert in his field, Sinclair came under criticism last year when [he] was accused of pushing an ‘unscientific’ pill said to reverse aging in dogs,” MailOnline Deputy Health Editor John Ely reported.
Sinclair was forced to resign from his position as the president of the Academy for Health and Lifespan Research. So, perhaps his thoughts should be accepted with caution.
Mary-Faith Martinez is a writer with a bachelor’s degree in English and Journalism who covers news, psychology, lifestyle, and human interest topics.