What if something as simple as looking at your hand could inform you of your risk for getting prostate cancer? According to a study by British researchers, it could be true.
The study, published in the British Journal of Cancer (BJC), found that men whose index finger is longer than their ring finger have a lower risk of developing cancer.
The Wall Street Journal explains further:
Researchers studied the ratio between the 2nd and 4th finger of the right hand in 1,524 prostate-cancer patients and 3,044 healthy people over 15 years. Men with longer index fingers were 33% less likely to develop prostate cancer, and men under 60 had an 87% lower risk.
In the prostate-cancer group, index fingers were longer in about 23% of the participants and shorter in 57%. In the control group, index fingers were longer in 31% and shorter in 52%. The rest of the men had fingers of equal length. The findings are in line with a recent study of 366 Korean men, which found a significant association between digit ratio and prostate-cancer risk.
Because finger length is determined before birth, the study suggests that pre-natal hormonal influences can affect a mans risk of prostate cancer, just as pre-natal exposure to estrogen can affect a womans risk of breast cancer.
