Finger Lengths are Pointers

Cholesterol is an important and essential compound and is required to ensure survival. One of the roles of cholesterol is to produce the sex hormones which give the male and female characteristics to individuals. These hormones are also responsible for the differences in the physical characteristics seen between the males and the females. For example, women are protected against the onset of coronary heart disease while men are susceptible. Men are more likely to go bald, a phenomenon which is not likely to happen in women. Women also tend to have more of fat and less muscle while men tend to be more muscular.

It has been seen that men tend to have longer ring fingers. The lengths of the ring fingers are more compared to the index finger lengths. In contrast, in women, the index fingers are lengthier compared to the ring fingers. Elegant experiments with animals have shown that the hormones secreted by the growing fetus (and not by the glands of the mother) decide the finger lengths.

Increasing amounts of testosterone point to a higher ring finger/index finger length ratio. Estrogens, on the other hand, tend to increase the lengths of the index fingers. It is actually the ratio of testosterone to estrogen which is more important. Of course, there are women who tend to have longer ring fingers and tend to exhibit masculine characteristics while the reverse is true with men with smaller ring fingers.