Longevity Expert Says 1 Fingernail Sign Shows How You're Ageing
But according to Dr David Sinclair, a Harvard-based expert in ageing and genetics who's known for his research into longevity, they can tell us how we're ageing too.
In 2022, the doctor explained on a podcast that one sign on our hands 'is a really good indicator of how you're ageing or not ageing.'
It's based, he explains, on a 1979 study.
Our nails do not grow as quickly when we're older as they did in our younger years, the doctor explained.
'Every time I have to cut my nails, I'm thinking, 'How long ago did I cut my nails?'', he commented.
He pointed to a 1979 study in which researchers attached tape to people's nails and measure how much they grew in different populations over a set period of time.
This paper, published in the Journal of Investigative Dermatology, found that, 'The rate of linear nail growth decreases 50% over the life spans of both dogs and humans.'
As Dr Sinclair points out on the podcast, the study showed that the rate was about 0.5% each year after the participants' 30th birthday.
A 2011 study put the start point even earlier, at 25 years of age.
While the professor admits that he doesn't pay much attention to his own nail's growth, he adds: 'If you measure that, it's a really good indicator of how old you are biologically.'
According to Healthline, it may have to do with blood flow, which slows over time.
Previously, Dr Michelle Henry, founder of Skin and Aesthetic Surgery of Manhattan, told HuffPost that, '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.'
He added: '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.'
Ageing Rapidly Increases At These 2 Ages ― Here's Why
Here's How To Tell Normal Physical Ageing From Frailty
This Walking Change May Mean You're Ageing Faster Than Usual
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
13 hours ago
- Yahoo
NIH cuts spotlight a hidden crisis facing patients with experimental brain implants
Carol Seeger finally escaped her debilitating depression with an experimental treatment that placed electrodes in her brain and a pacemaker-like device in her chest. But when its batteries stopped working, insurance wouldn't pay to fix the problem and she sank back into a dangerous darkness. She worried for her life, asking herself: 'Why am I putting myself through this?' Seeger's predicament highlights a growing problem for hundreds of people with experimental neural implants, including those for depression, quadriplegia and other conditions. Although these patients take big risks to advance science, there's no guarantee that their devices will be maintained — particularly after they finish participating in clinical trials — and no mechanism requiring companies or insurers to do so. A research project led by Gabriel Lázaro-Muñoz, a Harvard University scientist, aimed to change that by creating partnerships between players in the burgeoning implant field to overcome barriers to device access and follow-up care. But the cancellation of hundreds of National Institutes of Health grants by the Trump administration this year left the project in limbo, dimming hope for Seeger and others like her who wonder what will happen to their health and progress. An ethical quagmire Unlike medications, implanted devices often require parts, maintenance, batteries and surgeries when changes are needed. Insurance typically covers such expenses for federally approved devices considered medically necessary, but not experimental ones. A procedure to replace a battery alone can cost more than $15,000 without insurance, Lázaro-Muñoz said. While companies stand to profit from research, 'there's really nothing that helps ensure that device manufacturers have to provide any of these parts or cover any kind of maintenance,' said Lázaro-Muñoz. Some companies also move on to newer versions of devices or abandon the research altogether, which can leave patients in an uncertain place. Medtronic, the company that made the deep brain stimulation, or DBS, technology Seeger used, said in a statement that every study is different and that the company puts patient safety first when considering care after studies end. People consider various possibilities when they join a clinical trial. The Food and Drug Administration requires the informed consent process to include a description of 'reasonably foreseeable risks and discomforts to the participant,' a spokesperson said. However, the FDA doesn't require trial plans to include procedures for long-term device follow-up and maintenance, although the spokesperson stated that the agency has requested those in the past. While some informed consent forms say devices will be removed at a study's end, Lázaro-Muñoz said removal is ethically problematic when a device is helping a patient. Plus, he said, some trial participants told him and his colleagues that they didn't remember everything discussed during the consent process, partly because they were so focused on getting better. Brandy Ellis, a 49-year-old in Boynton Beach, Florida, said she was desperate for healing when she joined a trial testing the same treatment Seeger got, which delivers an electrical current into the brain to treat severe depression. She was willing to sign whatever forms were necessary to get help after nothing else had worked. 'I was facing death,' she said. 'So it was most definitely consent at the barrel of a gun, which is true for a lot of people who are in a terminal condition.' Patients risk losing a treatment of last resort Ellis and Seeger, 64, both turned to DBS as a last resort after trying many approved medications and treatments. 'I got in the trial fully expecting it not to work because nothing else had. So I was kind of surprised when it did,' said Ellis, whose device was implanted in 2011 at Emory University in Atlanta. 'I am celebrating every single milestone because I'm like: This is all bonus life for me.' She's now on her third battery. She needed surgery to replace two single-use ones, and the one she has now is rechargeable. She's lucky her insurance has covered the procedures, she said, but she worries it may not in the future. 'I can't count on any coverage because there's nothing that says even though I've had this and it works, that it has to be covered under my commercial or any other insurance,' said Ellis, who advocates for other former trial participants. Even if companies still make replacement parts for older devices, she added, 'availability and accessibility are entirely different things,' given most people can't afford continued care without insurance coverage. Seeger, whose device was implanted in 2012 at Emory, said she went without a working device for around four months when the insurance coverage her wife's job at Emory provided wouldn't pay for battery replacement surgery. Neither would Medicare, which generally only covers DBS for FDA-approved uses. With her research team at Emory advocating for her, Seeger ultimately got financial help from the hospital's indigent care program and paid a few thousand dollars out of pocket. She now has a rechargeable battery, and the device has been working well. But at any point, she said, that could change. Federal cuts stall solutions Lázaro-Muñoz hoped his work would protect people like Seeger and Ellis. 'We should do whatever we can as a society to be able to help them maintain their health,' he said. Lázaro-Muñoz's project received about $987,800 from the National Institute of Mental Health in the 2023 and 2024 fiscal years and was already underway when he was notified of the NIH funding cut in May. He declined to answer questions about it. Ellis said any delay in addressing the thorny issues around experimental brain devices hurts patients. Planning at the beginning of a clinical trial about how to continue treatment and maintain devices, she said, would be much better than depending on the kindness of researchers and the whims of insurers. 'If this turns off, I get sick again. Like, I'm not cured,' she said. 'This is a treatment that absolutely works, but only as long as I've got a working device.' ____ The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute's Department of Science Education and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The AP is solely responsible for all content. Solve the daily Crossword
Associated Press
13 hours ago
- Associated Press
NIH cuts spotlight a hidden crisis facing patients with experimental brain implants
Carol Seeger finally escaped her debilitating depression with an experimental treatment that placed electrodes in her brain and a pacemaker-like device in her chest. But when its batteries stopped working, insurance wouldn't pay to fix the problem and she sank back into a dangerous darkness. She worried for her life, asking herself: 'Why am I putting myself through this?' Seeger's predicament highlights a growing problem for hundreds of people with experimental neural implants, including those for depression, quadriplegia and other conditions. Although these patients take big risks to advance science, there's no guarantee that their devices will be maintained — particularly after they finish participating in clinical trials — and no mechanism requiring companies or insurers to do so. A research project led by Gabriel Lázaro-Muñoz, a Harvard University scientist, aimed to change that by creating partnerships between players in the burgeoning implant field to overcome barriers to device access and follow-up care. But the cancellation of hundreds of National Institutes of Health grants by the Trump administration this year left the project in limbo, dimming hope for Seeger and others like her who wonder what will happen to their health and progress. An ethical quagmire Unlike medications, implanted devices often require parts, maintenance, batteries and surgeries when changes are needed. Insurance typically covers such expenses for federally approved devices considered medically necessary, but not experimental ones. A procedure to replace a battery alone can cost more than $15,000 without insurance, Lázaro-Muñoz said. While companies stand to profit from research, 'there's really nothing that helps ensure that device manufacturers have to provide any of these parts or cover any kind of maintenance,' said Lázaro-Muñoz. Some companies also move on to newer versions of devices or abandon the research altogether, which can leave patients in an uncertain place. Medtronic, the company that made the deep brain stimulation, or DBS, technology Seeger used, said in a statement that every study is different and that the company puts patient safety first when considering care after studies end. People consider various possibilities when they join a clinical trial. The Food and Drug Administration requires the informed consent process to include a description of 'reasonably foreseeable risks and discomforts to the participant,' a spokesperson said. However, the FDA doesn't require trial plans to include procedures for long-term device follow-up and maintenance, although the spokesperson stated that the agency has requested those in the past. While some informed consent forms say devices will be removed at a study's end, Lázaro-Muñoz said removal is ethically problematic when a device is helping a patient. Plus, he said, some trial participants told him and his colleagues that they didn't remember everything discussed during the consent process, partly because they were so focused on getting better. Brandy Ellis, a 49-year-old in Boynton Beach, Florida, said she was desperate for healing when she joined a trial testing the same treatment Seeger got, which delivers an electrical current into the brain to treat severe depression. She was willing to sign whatever forms were necessary to get help after nothing else had worked. 'I was facing death,' she said. 'So it was most definitely consent at the barrel of a gun, which is true for a lot of people who are in a terminal condition.' Patients risk losing a treatment of last resort Ellis and Seeger, 64, both turned to DBS as a last resort after trying many approved medications and treatments. 'I got in the trial fully expecting it not to work because nothing else had. So I was kind of surprised when it did,' said Ellis, whose device was implanted in 2011 at Emory University in Atlanta. 'I am celebrating every single milestone because I'm like: This is all bonus life for me.' She's now on her third battery. She needed surgery to replace two single-use ones, and the one she has now is rechargeable. She's lucky her insurance has covered the procedures, she said, but she worries it may not in the future. 'I can't count on any coverage because there's nothing that says even though I've had this and it works, that it has to be covered under my commercial or any other insurance,' said Ellis, who advocates for other former trial participants. Even if companies still make replacement parts for older devices, she added, 'availability and accessibility are entirely different things,' given most people can't afford continued care without insurance coverage. Seeger, whose device was implanted in 2012 at Emory, said she went without a working device for around four months when the insurance coverage her wife's job at Emory provided wouldn't pay for battery replacement surgery. Neither would Medicare, which generally only covers DBS for FDA-approved uses. With her research team at Emory advocating for her, Seeger ultimately got financial help from the hospital's indigent care program and paid a few thousand dollars out of pocket. She now has a rechargeable battery, and the device has been working well. But at any point, she said, that could change. Federal cuts stall solutions Lázaro-Muñoz hoped his work would protect people like Seeger and Ellis. 'We should do whatever we can as a society to be able to help them maintain their health,' he said. Lázaro-Muñoz's project received about $987,800 from the National Institute of Mental Health in the 2023 and 2024 fiscal years and was already underway when he was notified of the NIH funding cut in May. He declined to answer questions about it. Ellis said any delay in addressing the thorny issues around experimental brain devices hurts patients. Planning at the beginning of a clinical trial about how to continue treatment and maintain devices, she said, would be much better than depending on the kindness of researchers and the whims of insurers. 'If this turns off, I get sick again. Like, I'm not cured,' she said. 'This is a treatment that absolutely works, but only as long as I've got a working device.' ____ The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute's Department of Science Education and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The AP is solely responsible for all content.
Newsweek
16 hours ago
- Newsweek
MrBeast Makes Astronomer Joke After Gwyneth Paltrow Video
Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources. Newsweek AI is in beta. Translations may contain inaccuracies—please refer to the original content. MrBeast, who was recently named the top content creator in the world by Forbes, has reacted to one of the year's most viral stories, the Astronomer Coldplay "kiss-cam scandal." In a post on X, formerly Twitter, MrBeast responded to the company's recent marketing video, which featured Gwyneth Paltrow. Newsweek has reached out to a representative for MrBeast via email for comment. Why It Matters MrBeast's social media post comes after a split-second clip of Astronomer CEO Andy Byron and his colleague Kristin Cabot was shared on social media and promptly broke the internet. The video, first shared by instaagraace on TikTok, has been viewed over 128 million times as of time of writing. Left, MrBeast speaks onstage during YouTube Brandcast 2025 at David Geffen Hall in New York City on May 14, 2025. Right, Gwyneth Paltrow attends the 2025 Breakthrough Prize Ceremony at Barker Hangar in Santa Monica,... Left, MrBeast speaks onstage during YouTube Brandcast 2025 at David Geffen Hall in New York City on May 14, 2025. Right, Gwyneth Paltrow attends the 2025 Breakthrough Prize Ceremony at Barker Hangar in Santa Monica, California, on April 5, 2025. More Taylor Hill/FilmMagic/for YouTube In the clip, the jumbotron lands on the pair and they promptly sprang apart. Coldplay's lead singer Chris Martin, says: "Either they're having an affair or they're just really shy." The pair were later identified as Byron, CEO of the tech firm Astronomer, and Cabot, the company's head of Human Resources. Both have now resigned. What To Know On July 26, Astronomer shared a light-hearted marketing video which capitalizes on the attention that has been brought to the company since the now infamous Coldplay canoodling. The video features Paltrow, Martin's Oscar-winning ex-wife, as a "very temporary spokesperson." MrBeast, real name Jimmy Donaldson, responded to this on X. In a post that has been viewed over 230,000 times, he wrote, "Can I be CEO." Astronomer's board of directors have announced that they will start a formal search for their new chief executive. Company co-founder Pete DeJoy has taken over as interim CEO. He said on Monday that Astronomer has faced an "unusual and surreal" amount of attention in recent days. Astronomer is a New York-based company that helps companies develop, grow, and analyze products using artificial intelligence. MrBeast, whose YouTube channel boasts over 416 million subscribers, is the owner of multiple companies, including Feastables and MrBeast Burger. He has previously shared posts on social media expressing interest in buying the social media platform X from Elon Musk. In June, as part of their list of Top Content Creators, Forbes reported that MrBeast had earnings of $85 million. Back in 2022, Forbes reported the 27-year-old could become the world's "first YouTuber billionaire," reporting at the time that he had a net worth of $500 million. What People Are Saying An Astronomer spokesperson previously told Newsweek in a statement: "Astronomer is committed to the values and culture that have guided us since our founding. Our leaders are expected to set the standard in both conduct and accountability, and recently, that standard was not met." What's Next The search for Astronomer's new CEO is ongoing.
