[ad_1]
The strange handshake of President Trump, people have long since judged each other on the firmness – or lack of firmness – of a handshake. A strong grip usually translates into confidence or even power, while a soft grip sometimes appears to be disengaged or weak.
But recent studies indicate that grip strength can reveal much more than your personality. it can be used as a window to find out how healthy or unhealthy you are. And as you get older, experts say, your grip strength can be an indicator of how likely you are to develop and survive diseases such as cancer, heart disease, and more.
A 2016 systematic review of numerous studies involving 60-year-olds found that grip strength "has predictive validity for the decline in cognition, mobility, functional status, and mortality."
Experts say that the strength of the handles is a substitute for measuring the overall strength of the body and muscle mass, which decrease with age. According to the researchers, the benefit of measuring grip strength as a marker of health is that it is an affordable and practical means that is essential for rural and other populations who may not have not easily access to medical care.
"This is not a perfect measure of overall muscle strength, but a good one" because muscle loss is linked to many diseases and as soon as the grip strength in adulthood can indicate a disability later in life, says Stuart Gray, speaker at the exercise. and Metabolic Health at the Institute of Cardiovascular and Medical Sciences at the University of Glasgow, which focuses on age-related muscle loss.
To measure grip strength, researchers use a simple $ 200 device called a dynamometer. The subjects urge him to reveal the force applied. "It takes five to ten minutes to train a person to use the device," says Gray. "So it's easy to apply."
Muscular strength and old age
Gray was one of the co-authors of a 2018 study that had revealed that the strength of the grip was "strongly associated with a wide range of adverse health outcomes." Research has found a link between lower grip strength and a higher incidence of cardiovascular disease, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and various types of cancer, including colorectal, lung and breast cancer.
The study used information from 500,000 people aged 40 to 69 in the British Biobank, who collects data to study genetic, nutritional, environmental and other factors affecting health.
"We knew that low muscle strength was linked to higher morbidity," says Gray, but we think his role in health is underestimated. We wanted to explore this issue in a large cohort of people to determine if it was associated with more conditions. "
"Muscle strength is an indicator of your ability to resist disease," says Darryl Leong, a cardiologist at the Hamilton Health Sciences Institute for Population Health Research and McMaster University in Canada. "When you are stronger and you get sick, you have reserves you can rely on to help fight the disease," he says. "Without muscle strength, your chances are significantly lower."
Leong says that becoming fragile is often seen as an inevitable part of aging. With this research, he states, "We challenge this belief because we have seen many young and frail adults and many older adults who are not."
Leong is currently leading a study of approximately 142,000 people in 17 countries, which uses their grip strength to assess the risk of heart attack, stroke or death from cardiovascular disease.
"Our research has shown that low muscle strength is associated with a higher risk of death, above all," said Leong. He also revealed that "grip strength was a stronger predictor of all-cause and cardiovascular mortality than systolic blood pressure."
Leong's research suggests that for every 11 pounds reduction in grip strength, there is a higher risk of dying by 16%, regardless of the cause, a 17% risk of dying from heart disease , a higher risk of stroke 7% and 7% higher heart. attack.
Results and observations on frailty not specifically related to age suggest the need for more research, says Leong.
"We need to understand the ingredients that lead to successful aging while maintaining strength," he says. "We hope that a successful approach to preserving muscle strength will reduce the risk of death and disability."
In 2017, a small study of 22 men and 41 women aged 60 to 94 used hand grips and interviews to assess their quality of life related to health. He found that "social contact with non-parents and grip strength. . . had a significant positive impact on health-related quality of life for older men and women. "
The authors indicated that the grip strength clearly indicated the muscle strength generally observed in the participants, and a higher force suggested a better physical form and a more independent quality of life.
Chicken or egg
While both researchers combined grip strength as a measure of overall muscle strength with disease outcomes, they both explained why it was not so clear.
"After 40 years, the grip strength will begin to decline even in the absence of disease," Gray said. "That's why we do not know it – a lot of potential contributing factors – but that's part of global sarcopenia [muscle loss] process. In fact, the main diagnostic criterion of sarcopenia is poor adherence. "
The question that remains is whether this is the result of genetic and other factors, or of not staying fit and active.
"We've seen variations in muscle strength among different ethnicities," says Leong. "Is it genetic or is it a reflection of the environment in which you grow and the diet you eat? We want to understand this and help prevent a loss of grip strength. "
Gray assumes that the grip strength is 50% of the lifestyle and 50% of the genetics. "We do not know all the factors that come into play and the grip strength does not necessarily change with exercise," he says.
Exercise and activity, however, can not be discounted, says Leong. "It's the old adage of" using it or losing it, "he says. "Resistance training and strength preservation should be part of the routine as you get older."
This does not mean that you should train your grip strength in a specific way.
"Just improving grip strength will not improve your overall health," says Gray.
Cathleen Colon-Emeric, Head of the Division of Geriatrics and Associate Dean of Research Mentorship at Duke University's School of Medicine, said, "We should consider grip strength as a global biomarker of health and well-being. its improvement in itself will not lead to better results. "
"Instead, we should focus on maintaining or improving muscle mass, which greatly reduces the risk of many conditions," she said.
Gray and Leong are planning further studies to better understand the causes of the loss of grip strength. In the meantime, says Leong, healthy eating and physical exercise remain the best approach to age in good health.
Read more
These easy fitness exercises for the elderly can help with daily activities
Could you skip your workout if you incorporate a more regular activity into your day?
Can this ascension test really predict longevity?
[ad_2]
Source link