What Your Fingernails Reveal About Aging and Health?
Source: wexnermedical.osu.edu Nail Growth as an Indicator of Aging The rate at which fingernails reveal insights into biological aging, according to Dr. David Sinclair, a genetics professor at Harvard Medical School. On his podcast Lifespan , Sinclair explained that nail growth serves as a natural marker of how well a person is aging, beyond their chronological age. Sinclair referred to a 1979 study that monitored the nail growth of 271 individuals over several years. The study found that nail growth slows down by approximately 0.5% per year after the age of 30. This decline suggests that faster-growing nails may be a sign of a more youthful biological age. While frequent manicures do not influence this process, individuals who find themselves trimming their nails more often than their peers may be aging at a slower biological rate. It is common for nails to become more brittle and discolored with age. However, Sinclair emphasized that changes in nail growth could also indi...