flailing fingers and prostate cancer - a guy's thing

[billkilpatrick]

while practicing scales, marveling at the dexterity of your left hand - speed, accuracy - NPM ratio (notes per minute) etc., etc. - according to an item on the bbc news this evening, the difference in length between your ring and index finger can indicate whether you're likely to develop prostate cancer:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-11880415

could this be part of something?

[DPrager]

Which hand??

[Dennis Ladd]

I had both seven years ago, now I only have the longer index fingers. The prostate is in a jar in a lab somewhere in L.A. where it can Do No Harm. The good news is that doing all those Kegel exercises after the surgery has apparently helped me play faster.

Or maybe because I'm in a band and practice more.

[Ed Goist]

Oh joy...My index fingers are significantly shorter (by like a half-knuckle's length) than my ring fingers.

[stevenmando]

Damm a guy has so much to worry about unemployment moving in with parent if they are alive and if you have kids they moving in with you besides prostate cancer and my index finger is shorter than my ring finger well can.t worry about that seems like life is to short and a good thing i don.t have kids and my parents are no longer here guess ill just start practicing the mando maybe that will take my mind off my fingers and i know prostate cancer is no joke it rums on my mothers side of the family but like everything eather the cup is half full or half empty it just the way one see it just take care of yourself guys and let the music flow.

[Nolan]

I found another article on the same web page that claims if your ring finger is longer than you have a reduced chance of having a heart attack so don't worry too much guys, whatever length your ring finger is your pretty much screwed.
It sounds like some "Doctors" in the UK moonlight as palm readers????

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/1613066.stm

[Elliot Luber]

One study does not science make.

[allenhopkins]

One study does not science make.

And correlation doesn't prove causation.

[Tim2723]

According to my toes I should be dead by now.

[Bernie Daniel]

One study does not science make.

Actually, the number of studies has little to do with it. One well designed, and properly analyzed scientific study is most assuredly "science".

I think you may mean one study does not always constitute adequate basis for a definitive scientific conclusion. And this is true.

In this case, the numbers of subjects tested may well call for confirmatory follow up research.

Regardless of your relative finger lengths I certainly would advise having your prostate examined (palpated) and a PSA test done annually if you can arrange it via your insurance.

[slimey]

100% of all reported cases of life proved fatal.......we should have avoided life at all costs and then we wouldn't have all got into this mess, personally I blame my parents.
Looking at my fingers my ring and index finger are almost identical, but I'm pleased to say the finger I need to communicate to the Dr that wants to steal my virginity with a boroscope, is very long!
( all said very tongue in cheek, and as an old wrinkly I do get my annual check up)
The question really on my mind is what kind of fingers would improve my playing and should I consider surgury.

[Mandolin Mick]

They're almost the same length. Just had the exam and I'm fine. I'd put more confidence in the exam than finger length ... ;)

[Ivan Kelsall]

On a positive note & well documented on the Internet - Tomatoes contain a substance called Lycopene which is known to be effective in helping to prevent the onset of PC. Maybe just as well for me that the flavour of Tomatoes is my very favourite flavour of anything, & i get through a Litre of Tomato juice everyday,
Ivan:mandosmiley:

PS - According to some central European folk tales if your ring finger is longer than your middle finger,you're likely to become a Werewolf - check 'em out folks !:grin:

[Bertram Henze]

Which of my fingers is longer seems to depend on which chord I am fretting - hey can open F major really cause prostate cancer? ~:>

Good news about those tomatoes I have with breakfast every morning - now all I need is an excuse for the egg, bacon and black pudding. :popcorn:

[stevenmando]

Umm tomatoes love um but what about acid reflucs but lets get back to mandos is there a red mandolin and other mandos of color and question what is black pudding ?

[outdoors4me]

The guys at work compared index and ring fingers yesterday after I read the article. Myself and most of the guys are doomed. One guy came out good.

But while we're at it - all you guys over 50. GET THE EXAM. Very uncomfortable to talk about and more uncomfortable to get, but it's 30 seconds and can save your life.

Beck

[nickster60]

It seems that everything south of the belt line seems to be related to the fingers. Or at least that is what my wife tells me. I have hands like hams and feet like Fred Flintstone so I guess I may closely related to a cave man or a cartoon character.

[Bertram Henze]

...question what is black pudding ?

You don't know just what you've been missing (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_pudding).

[nickster60]

Mmmmm Mmmmm Good

[David Rambo]

I noticed this statement in the study, "Being exposed to less testosterone before birth results in a longer index finger
..." I think I'll take the testosterone and hopefuly the resultant "high sex drive," and keep getting checked every year.
Seriously, I would like to echo what has been said about the exam and the PSA test. If you're over 50, get in there. After a bout of septocemia, they found out that my PSA was 45. (They didn't even want to tell me the number to avoid scaring me.) After a lot of check-ups and a good Dr. who wasn't cut happy, the number kept dropping and ended up at 1.2. Now I get checked at least once a year.
Guys, get in there. It could keep you around the cafe for a lot longer!

[re simmers]

It's deer season here. The local meat cutter is busy. I think I'll measure my fingers and have the meat cutter cut my fingers to a size that will guarantee a healthy prostate. He's very fast with a knife.

Banjo players who play over a mandolin player's break are known to cause hemorrhoids. It may just indicate a correlation. And I don't know if that's a scientific study.

Bob

[Denny Gies]

If a man lives long enough he is almost certain to develop prostate cancer. Get your PSA's regularly.

[Ivan Kelsall]

From Bertram - "now all I need is an excuse for the egg, bacon and black pudding " No excuse is needed Bertram,other than that you'd enjoy them. A few sausages & some fried bread will add extra enjoyment,
Ivan;)
PS - In the US 'Black puddings' are more often known as 'blood puddings',or so i've been informed by several American persons in the past.

[Mandolin Mick]

Last time I was in Scotland I stared at the black pudding on my plate and couldn't bring myself to do it. I'm one of those guys who can't get past the ingredients if it's something I don't like or doesn't sound appetizing. All of the arguments don't work. However, I didn't like mushrooms as a boy ... until I finally ate one ... and it became one of my favorite foods!!! ;)

[Bertram Henze]

Last time I was in Scotland I stared at the black pudding on my plate and couldn't bring myself to do it. I'm one of those guys who can't get past the ingredients if it's something I don't like or doesn't sound appetizing.

I am with you - it is an acquired taste for some.
In Scotland, I always prefer haggis over black pudding :grin:, but here in Germany haggis is too hard to come by.
The thing I can't get over is baked beans - I saw a little boy once having his breakfast in Cornwall: his plate was full of baked beans, and he poured ketchup over it... looked like a chainsaw accident.~:>

[Rroyd]

I've heard that if you op out of the image screening prior to an airline flight, you get a free prostate exam.

[journeybear]

You don't know just what you've been missing (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_pudding).

Ummm ... no, thanks! I may not know just what I've been missing, but I needn't try everything to feel fulfilled. ;)

I don't entirely understand baked beans either, but if done right they are delicious. And should not need ketchup at all, much less poured all over them - unless that kid was getting an early start on keeping his lycopene level up. ;)

How did we get to be talking about food ... again? :confused:



PS - According to some central European folk tales if your ring finger is longer than your middle finger,you're likely to become a Werewolf ...

if that's the case, I think you have more serious (and real) issues! :))

[John Kinn]

Research has shown that if your thumb is longer than the rest of the fingers, your'e more likely to hitch hike succesfully.

[Bernie Daniel]

If a man lives long enough he is almost certain to develop prostate cancer. Get your PSA's regularly.

That is for sure! And if you are lucky enough not to develop prostate cancer it will still probably keep growing enough to require a trans-urethral prostate resection (TURP) a nasty little operation to remove some of the prostate and which will also leave you essentially with a female-type urethral sphincter and all the problems of urinary incontinence that elderly women typically have. More than you want to know I am sure. See what you have started Bill! At least it isn't politics!

[stevenmando]

Im double jointed in my thumbs so i can hitch hike and pay mando at the same time.

[Bertram Henze]

For mando playing, fingers should get longer and stronger counting from index finger to pinky. From that I conclude that the absolute mandolin superstar is a werewolf with prostate cancer - consider that before practising too much! :disbelief:

[Ivan Kelsall]

From Bertram - "...absolute mandolin superstar is a werewolf with prostate cancer ". Would you pay to go see one ?.
Haggis is wonderful if cooked correctly.The Scots have a winner all the way for me on that one,but it's catching the little devils that's the hard bit !,
Ivan;)

[Jason Kessler]

From prostate cancer to black pudding...unfortunate segue...

[Mike Bunting]

Research has shown that if your thumb is longer than the rest of the fingers, your'e more likely to hitch hike succesfully.

Well documented by Tom Robbins in "Even Cowgirls get the Blues",

[Bernie Daniel]

Its pretty interesting about thumbs. My thumb is shorter than my middle finger but it seems like it worked better for hitching hiking back when I was in college anyway. I haven't tried it for some years lately however.

[chopaholic]

Maybe it's because the guys with long index fingers are able to check their own prostates giving them an advantage of early detection.

[billkilpatrick]

how did this get so out of (heh-heh) hand?

[journeybear]

Research has shown that if your thumb is longer than the rest of the fingers, you're more likely to hitch hike succesfully.


Well documented by Tom Robbins in "Even Cowgirls get the Blues",

Quite right - the Sissy Hankshaw syndrome. ;)


Im double jointed in my thumbs so i can hitch hike and play mando at the same time.

I haven't done that - though I did try playing mandolin instead of hitchhiking as a means of getting a ride sometimes (pretty unsuccessfully; people didn't understand I wasn't just amusing myself but trying to get a ride) - but I did drive and play mandolin once - ONCE. I was driving my girlfriend's mom's Triumph TR6 through Texas - straight road, no traffic, broad daylight - and that sweet machine had the tightest steering I ever ... With my knee holding the wheel steady, I reeled off a couple of tunes before she got a bit too nervous. Well, me too, but it was a dare, so I had to. :whistling: I do not recommend this unless all the above conditions can be met - and even then! :))

[John Kinn]

In Norway you are fined $150 if you drive and use the cellphone at the same time. Nothing in the law about playing the mandolin.:)

[journeybear]

It's illegal here, too, as far as I know - not that this law is enforced, mind you. Perhaps as I bike around town I see this activity more easily - and often - than I would if I were driving. The other day I almost got hit by a car in which the driver was so intent on the message he was texting :disbelief: that he didn't notice the light had changed. I wonder if in such an instance I can call the police and give them the license plate. :confused:

So far mandolins are still so far under the radar :grin: that playing while driving is probably not illegal. Still unsafe in most situations, though ... ;)

[Steve L]

There's not much mando content here, but putting that aside; Flailing fingers and prostate exams in the same conceptual space? Nnnnnnnnno.

[Mandolin Mick]

You can use a cellphone when you drive in Wisconsin, but it became illegal to text & drive 5 days ago.

But, I don't think there's any law against playing a mandolin while you're driving here ... ;)