Correlation Between Muscle Mass and Heart Health?
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Exercise is beneficial for our heart’s health, especially as we age. But as we age, our muscle mass diminishes, making more rigorous exercise difficult. So how important really is maintaining muscle mass as we age? As long as we can walk right…?
A study published in January by researchers in Greece recently focused on the importance of muscle mass in those 45 years of age and older, with no pre-existing heart conditions. Participants in the study were tested and then reassessed 10 years later. The authors found that those in the top third of muscle mass measurements at the beginning of the study had an 81% lower risk of a cardiovascular disease event over the following 10 years.
These results add to the growing evidence that building and maintaining muscle is essential for healthy aging. And while these findings don’t show that muscle mass directly prevents heart disease… the correlation between muscle mass, exercise, and a reduction of cardiac diseases in those 45 and older, especially men, is strong.