Why a handshake just might save your life

Doctors show link between grip strength and risk of disease

Are you worried about a heart attack or stroke? Well there may be an easy way to tell if you are at greater risk for either of these diseases, are near death or seriously ill, and you don't need anything more than a hand and a partner.

LOS ANGELES, CA (Catholic Online) - All you need to do is shake hands.

That's right, a recent study of 140,000 adults from 17 different countries found that people with weak grips are more likely to live shorter lives and are at an increased risk of suffering from a heart attack or stroke. This test can be more accurate than having your blood pressure taken.

The study followed adults between the ages of 35 and 70 for four years. Using a hand-grip dynomometer, the force exerted by a subjects grip was measured. Every 11 pounds of pressure a person lost their risk of death went of 16 percent. Their risk for cardiovascular death also went up by by 17 percent. Risk for a heart attack only went up seven percent, and risk for stroke increased by nine percent.

These findings held up even after factors among the test group were taken into account, including age, education level, employment, physical activity level and use of tobacco and alcohol.

"Grip strength could be an easy and inexpensive test to assess an individual's risk of death and cardiovascular disease," said the study's lead author, Dr. Darryl Leong of McMaster University in Canada.

Leong did say that while this study is promising, "Further research is needed to establish whether efforts to improve muscle strength are likely to reduce an individual's risk of death and cardiovascular disease."

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