Longer ring fingers, vis-à-vis the index fingers, could be an indication of risk of motor neurone disease --- amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), or the Lou Gehrig’s disease as it is also called!

The link that the a new British study – published in the Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery and Psychiatry – suggests between ALS and the longer length of the fourth finger relative to the index finger, was based on the measurement of finger length of 110 people; 47 of whom were suffering from ALS.

Noting that the dividing the index-finger length by the ring-finger length gives a ratio which is connected to testosterone levels in the womb, unsurprisingly related to whether the hand belongs to a male, the researchers tested whether high levels of testosterone were linked to ALS.

It was found that, after controlling for gender, the index-to-ring finger ratio was lower among the ALS patients. However, there is no evidence to prove that all people with longer ring fingers inevitably have a higher risk of the rare disease.

With earlier studies having already noted that the index-to-ring-finger ratio is apparently set in the womb, and is linked to several traits, including sporting prowess and aggression, Dr Brian Dickie of the Motor Neurone Disease Association, specified that many people with long ring fingers will never develop ALS as there are “numerous genetic and environmental factors that need to coincide in order to trigger the disease”!