The length of this body part could affect your COVID-19 symptoms

Fast. look at your fingers Make a note of their length, because a new study finds a link between the length of our fingers and COVID-19 symptoms. This incredibly random snippet of data is backed by scientific evidence, with finger length indicating the amount of sex hormones in a person’s body that can affect the course of viral infection.

Swansea University researchers found that finger length indicates testosterone levels, a hormone that plays a key role in the progression of COVID-19. According to previous studies, a longer ring finger in the womb indicates higher testosterone levels, which is more common in men. A longer index finger indicates more estrogen and is therefore more common in women.

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The study, published in the journal Scientific Reports, analyzed the hormone levels of a group of participants at birth and during puberty. These numbers were then compared to the rate of COVID-19 hospitalizations, revealing that people with short fingers (called “feminized”) and with fingers of different lengths on both hands were more likely to have more severe COVID-19 infection.

“Our results suggest that the severity of COVID-19 in both men and women is associated with low testosterone and possibly high estrogen levels,” said Professor John Manning. “‘Feminized’ differences in digit ratios in hospitalized patients support the notion that individuals who had low testosterone and/or high estrogen levels are susceptible to severe expression of COVID-19. This could explain why older men are the most vulnerable group.”

Further studies on this topic could lead to better treatment of the disease, shorter hospital stays and the development of antiviral drugs, expanding the treatment options for the disease.

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Finger length has long been linked to a variety of interesting facts, from seemingly wild claims of sexual orientation to personality traits. Since sex hormones are related to these, these claims may have some scientific basis, although we don’t understand them yet.