Imagine if a simple handshake could reveal vital insights into someone’s healthspan and overall vitality. In this article, we explore the link between grip strength and longevity. But first, what is grip strength?
Grip strength has emerged as a powerful biomarker for biological age, surpassing traditional metrics such as blood pressure in predicting risk of chronic disease, health outcomes and longevity. Its value extends beyond being a measure of frailty or physical performance, reflecting key health metrics - muscle strength, bone mineral density, body weight, Sp02, and more - that are critical for maintaining functional independence.
Thus, grip strength refers to not only a measure of physical performance but also a key indicator of one’s biological resilience, with significant implications for long-term well-being.
As healthcare systems shift towards proactive, preventative healthcare and scientific research focuses on defining more accurate indicators of biological and functional age,once the simplicity of measuring grip strength and its predictive power are understood, they make a compelling case for its inclusion in routine health assessments.
This document outlines how grip strength measurements enable effective health monitoring, guide lifestyle modifications and proactive interventions to optimize physical and cognitive function, delay age-related diseases, and enhance long-term quality of life.
Read on to find out – why is grip strength important? What does grip strength indicate? And what does grip strength help with?
“Not enough can be said about the importance of grip strength as you age. It’s one of the strongest physical associations with longer life.”
Peter Attia MD, Longevity Expert
Marker of Biological Aging: Grip strength provides a measure of biological age, with lower grip strength correlating with faster DNA methylation age acceleration, a key marker of cellular aging, according to a recent grip strength and longevity study [Peterson et al., 2022].
Indicator of Genetic Variability: Variations in grip strength may reflect genomic differences in myotube differentiation and muscle repair, offering insights into personalized aging trajectories [Matteini et al., 2016].
Inflammation and Aging (“Inflammaging”): Chronic inflammation, often associated with aging, decreases muscle strength and accelerates biological again and disability. Grip strength serves as a key indicator of inflammation-related risks, with low hand grip strength correlating to higher rates of multimorbidity and age-related decline [Strasser et al., 2018].
Early Mortality Predictor: Studies show that measurements compared to average normal grip strength are a stronger predictor of mortality and cardiovascular events than systolic blood pressure, with weaker grip strength linked to a higher risk of early death across all income levels [Leong et al., 2015].
Cancer Mortality in Women: Women aged 40–69 with grip strength below 24.3 lbs* face a 61% higher risk of breast cancer-related mortality, highlighting its value in assessing cancer prognosis [Celis-Morales et al., 2018].
Life-span Insights in Men: Men with the weakest grip strength in their late teens are 20% more likely to die by their mid-50s compared to those with moderate or strong grip strength [Ortega et al., 2012].
Early Indicator of Frailty and Sarcopenia: A loss of grip strength to below below 44.1 lbs* for men and 28.8 lbs* for women is a key marker of frailty under the Fried Frailty Phenotype (FFP), while levels below 41.0 lbs* for men and 24.3 lbs* for women are diagnostic criteria for sarcopenia, according to the The European Working Group on Sarcopenia in Older People [Fried et al., 2011; Cruz-Jentoft et al., 2019].
Postmenopausal Screening for Osteoporosis: Weak grip strength is associated with reduced bone density and a higher likelihood of falls with a high incidence of injury, for example, hip fractures, particularly in post-menopausal women, making it an effective tool for early osteoporosis and fall risk assessment. [Li et al., 2018]
Preserving Independence Through Early Detection: Grip strength testing identifies functional decline caused by advancing muscle atrophy, which contributes to disability and diminished quality of life. Early interventions, including resistance training or muscle-strengthening activities for 30–60 minutes weekly to improve physical fitness, reduces the risk of all-cause mortality, cardiovascular disease, and cancer by 10–17% [Momma et al., 2022] and can improve strength, maintain independence, and combat sarcopenia [Strasser et al., 2018].
Cognitive Health and Dementia Risk: There is also a link between grip strength and dementia. Lower grip strength is linked to a nearly two-fold increased risk of cognitive decline and dementia (HR=1.99; Cui et al., 2021). Higher strength reflects neuromuscular integrity and resilience to oxidative stress, potentially protecting cognitive function [Weaver et al., 2002].
Cardiovascular & Respiratory Disease: Grip strength serves as a marker for risk of cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes, hypertension, and multimorbidity. Including grip strength in risk scores improves accuracy in predicting mortality and heart disease, while a grip strength of 62.4 lbs* reduces respiratory disease mortality risk by 51% [Cheung et al., 2013; Celis-Morales et al., 2018; Mey et al., 2022].
*Note that all cut off points have been converted to GripAble-equivalent measurements for consistency.
Grip strength serves as a holistic marker of vitality, enabling clinics to create personalized programs that enhance physical and cognitive performance.
Grip strength assessments offer early detection of age-related decline, enabling interventions that preserve functional independence and extend quality-adjusted life years (QALYs).
Grip strength assessments enable early identification and interventions for at-risk patients, thus mitigating the burden of managing chronic conditions reducing hospitalizations and long-term care needs.
The Only Grip Strength Platform Equipped for Data-Driven Healthcare.
Designed to unlock the full potential of grip strength as a vital health biomarker, Able Assess meets the demand for high-quality, data-driven healthcare.
Able Assess is a groundbreaking, digitally enabled platform for grip strength measurement.
It combines our advanced digital dynamometer with a comprehensive integrative platform and the most up-to-date normative dataset on the market to empower clinicians with actionable information that traditional tools simply can’t offer.
For further reading, dive into our extensive collection of studies on using a hand dynamometer, grip strength and more here including:
Get in touch via email to hello@able-care.co or visit our website at www.able-care.co
Contribute: Partner with us in research or patient case studies to advance the knowledge of grip strength as a biomarker.
Understand: Get the essentials on hand dynamometry and how to integrate grip strength into your practice with our comprehensive guide.
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Website: www.able-care.co Email: hello@able-care.co
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