Effects of age upon the mobility of human finger joints.

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Abstract
The coefficient of friction within the distal inter-phalangeal joint of the middle finger was measured in each of 111 healthy adults whose ages ranged from 17 to 90 years. The mean coefficient in the elderly was significantly raised, but there was a wide scatter and some old people had finger joints as mobile as in the 2nd decade of life. Since the apparatus used eliminated the damping effect of muscles and tendons, any reduced joint mobility observed must depend mainly on age changes in the synovial fluid, articular cartilage or joint ligaments.

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