Health
A Weak Handshake is Bad News for Your Heart
(Pui Shan Chan/CC BY-SA 3.0)
(The StarPhoenix) — The strength of your handshake could indicate the chance of a future heart attack, a major study led by a McMaster University researcher suggests.
Researchers found that the vigour of a person’s grip could predict the risk of heart attacks and strokes – and was a stronger indicator of early death than checking systolic blood pressure.
The study, published in The Lancet, a U.K. medical journal, involved almost 140,000 adults in 17 countries. It found weak grip strength was linked to shorter survival and a greater risk of having a heart attack or stroke. Reduced muscular strength, which can be measured by grip strength, has been consistently linked with early death, disability and illness. But there has been limited research on whether grip strength could be used to indicate heart health.
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