Leg Strength Increases Chance of Surviving Heart Attacks by 41 Percent

Written by Jessie Zhang on May 31, 2023. Posted in Current News

A new Japanese study suggests that people with strong leg muscles are less likely to experience heart failure following a myocardial infarction, or heart attack

The finding sheds light on the significance of quadriceps muscles and the potential for resistance training as a preventative measure.

The long-term study of 932 heart attack patients was presented at Heart Failure 2023, a scientific meeting of the European Society of Cardiology.

The findings haven’t yet been replicated, but they do suggest that strength training involving the quadriceps muscles should be recommended for patients who have experienced a heart attack to prevent heart failure, study author Kensuke Ueno, a physical therapist at Kitasato University Graduate School of Medical Sciences, said in a May 20 statement.

“Quadriceps strength is easy and simple to measure accurately in clinical practice,” Ueno said.

“Our study indicates that quadriceps strength could help to identify patients at a higher risk of developing heart failure after myocardial infarction who could then receive more intense surveillance.”

Study Method

To investigate the association between leg strength and the risk of developing heart failure after a heart attack, the study analyzed patients who were hospitalized for heart attacks between 2007 and 2020 and had an average age of 66 years.

These patients didn’t have heart failure before admission and didn’t experience heart failure complications during their hospital stays.

The patients sat on a chair and contracted the quadricep muscles as hard as possible for five seconds so that the researchers could measure the maximum strength of the quadriceps.

During a follow-up period of 4 1/2 years, 67 patients (7.2 percent) developed heart failure.

After adjusting for age, sex, body mass index, prior myocardial infarction or angina pectoris, diabetes, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, peripheral arterial disease, and kidney function, the researchers found that the risk of heart failure was nearly doubled in those with below-average quad strength.

“Compared with low quadriceps strength, a high strength level was associated with a 41 percent lower risk of developing heart failure,” the authors wrote.

“Each five percent body weight increment in quadriceps strength was associated with an 11 percent lower likelihood of heart failure.”

Older Adults Who Lift Weights Live Longer

Over the past decade, researchers have begun to demonstrate the benefits of strength training for improvements in chronic conditions such as diabetes, osteoporosis, low back pain, and obesity.

Small studies have observed that greater muscle strength is associated with a lower risk of death.

In a Penn State College of Medicine study, older adults who strength trained at least twice per week were found to have 46 percent lower odds of death over the follow-up period for any reason than those who didn’t.

They also had 41 percent lower odds of cardiac death and 19 percent lower odds of dying from cancer.

“The study is strong evidence that strength training in older adults is beneficial beyond improving muscle strength and physical function,” said Jennifer L. Kraschnewski, assistant professor of medicine and public health sciences.

See more here theepochtimes

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