As we get older, many parts of our body start to change. Skin begins to sag where it didn’t used to before, your eyesight starts to worsen and you begin to shrink.
We all want to keep an eye on our health, but this can be hard to do without regularly visiting a doctor. For people wanting to find out more about how they are ageing from the comfort of their home, one genetic expert has revealed a simple way to do this.
According to Dr David Sinclair, a genetics professor at Harvard Medical School, the answers are in your fingernails, reports the Express.
Dr Sinclair has revealed that you may be able to tell whether you are ageing slower or faster than your number of years depending on the growth of your fingernails. This is because the rate your nails grow may suggest how quickly your body is able to generate new, healthy cells.
These new cells are more likely to protect your body against age-related decline. Therefore, the faster your nails grow could mean that your body is healthy enough to stay youthful longer than your peers.
Dr Sinclair said: “The rate of your nail growth is a really good indicator of how you’re ageing or not ageing.”
This link between nail growth and ageing has been suggested due to a 1979 study that showed that weekly fingernail growth begins to slow down by around 0.5 per cent per year from the age of 30.
Referring to the study, Dr Sinclair added: “I do pay attention to whether my nails are slowing down in their growth or not. Every time I have to cut my nails, I’m thinking, ‘How long ago did I cut my nails?'”
If you are cutting your nails more often than those around you, due to your nails growing quickly, this could be a sign that your body is ageing slower than average. It is believed that the rate in which our nails grow declines as we get older because of blood circulation slowing as we age. This means our nails receive fewer nutrients to grow.
Another key factor to nail growth is your diet, as deficiencies in certain nutrients can also slow down nail growth. Hormone levels are also known to have an impact, as nail growth tends to accelerate during pregnancy and puberty.
So the next time you cut your nails, try to remember the last time you cut them and monitor this going forward. The frequency in which you are cutting your nails could give you peace of mind about how well you are ageing, or prompt you to make some changes.