'Longevity doctor' from Harvard says a person's nails can reveal how long they have left to live
Certain things about our body can tell us about our health and aging. These can help a person understand how they are doing, on some level, without invasive tests. A longevity doctor shared that our nails can tell us things about our health and well-being. Dr. David Sinclair, a genetics professor at Harvard Medical School, explained that there is a direct link between a person's nails and their biological age, as per David Sinclair's YouTube page, Lifespan. A person is supposed to pay attention to the rate their nails grow to get a clear idea.
"The rate of nail growth is a really good indicator of how you’re aging or not aging," Dr. Sinclair shared. "Every time I have to cut my nails, I’m thinking, 'How long ago did I cut my nails?'" he added. The doctor explained through a 1979 study that a person's nail growth decreases by 0.5% every year after a person turns 30 years old. Although a person's nails might change as they grow older, healthy-looking nails that grow quickly can be a sign that a person is aging well and has a lower biological age. "When parts of the nail growth plate (aka the nail matrix) become thinner and begin to atrophy, the result is ridging (parallel longitudinal depressions in the nail plate)," Dr. Dana Stern, assistant clinical professor of dermatology at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York told HuffPost.
A number of things can contribute to ridges on the nails, including hormonal imbalances and nutritional deficiencies and aging can be one of the reasons, as per the outlet. Our nails can also become brittle with age because of the degradation of the structural keratin proteins in our nails over the years, as per Dr. Michelle Henry, the founder of Skin and Aesthetic Surgery of Manhattan. "As we age, our bodies start to produce less of the natural proteins found in nails, which can lead to nails becoming more brittle, dry and prone to breaking," Dr. Henry highlighted.
"These keratin proteins are also found in our hair follicles, which is why we may also see a change in our hair texture as we age," she added. Yellow nails could also be an indicator of a slow nail growth rate. "Fingernails grow on average 3.47 mm a month, which means the average fingernail takes six months to replace," Stern highlighted. "As our nail growth rates slow down, the nails are exposed to considerably more environmental influences and these exposures, over time, can affect the color and overall appearance and strength of our nails." Wearing nail paints for a long time and fungal infections can be another cause of yellowing nails.
If a person wonders what causes their nail growth to slow down after a point, it could be because our body produces fewer keratin proteins as we grow older. "With less keratin being produced, our nails naturally start to lose their strength and structural integrity, which may lead to thinning and discoloration," Dr. Henry said. Healthy cuticles are another important thing to notice while looking at nails to understand aging. After a certain point, a nail might not stay stuck to the nail bed very well, which in turn impacts its appearance as well.