Except occasional manicure or broken fingernail most people don’t pay too much heed about their nails. However, the reality is human nails are more sophisticated than we think.
Have you ever observed that the growth rate of finger nails and toe nails are not exactly the same? Although there is no absolute known reason behind the fact but there is a good theory backed by quite a few ancillary evidences.
In human body every cell has different growth rates. The mediating factors of such growth of human cells are still under research but we know our genes are truly responsible for the variance of human cell growth.
According to a group of researcher at MIT & the Harvard Medical School human body cell growth doesn’t depend on the a specific size. It divides when they reach a critical phase in development.
Different factors like sex, age, exercise habit and diet have influence on human nail growth. Usually, out fingernails grow at a rate of about 3.5mm per month & toenails grow about 1.6mm per month. Out nails consist of different parts like nail plate, nail bed and the distal matrix (otherwise known as lunula).
However, the nail itself is grown from the matrix that lies beneath the fingernail & extends few millimeters into the finger. The matrix consists of epithelial cells and 90% of nail growth comes from here.
These matrix cells consist of protein called keratin. The hard nail what we see is actually a combination of keratin and an enzyme known as Transglutaminase.
Pressure within the matrix forces our nail to grow out and the shape of the nail depends upon the angle of your matrix. Our nail matrix carries blood & nutrients through capillaries. It’s typical that when body gets hurt, immune system of our body floods that area with nutrients and blood.
Our fingernails endure several micro traumas throughout the day like bumping, typing, tapping etc. This provokes the body to increase blood and nutrients supply in that region.
Our toes are mostly kept secured by our socks & shoes and they don’t face micro trauma every now and then that fingernails do. The consequence of these micro traumas is the production of more keratinized cells and increased blood flow with nutrients that ensures more nail growth of fingernails.
This theory is well accepted among medical researchers because you will find that fingernails on your dominant hand grow faster than your non-dominant hand. You can easily understand that your dominant hand will have more micro trauma than your non-dominant hand.
Additional ancillary evidence of nail’s ‘blood supply’ states that our nails grow faster in summer compared to winter. Because in summer our fingers & toes are warmer that results into bigger capillaries along with arterioles. This allows more blood flow to the digits. The end result is faster nail growth.
Although these may not be the absolute or only reasons behind the faster growth rate of fingernails but the theory does make sense. With the passage of time we may get a more specific reason but for now let’s agree where most people satisfy.
Nenhum comentário:
Postar um comentário