Stronger hands, faster walking, lower risk of high blood pressure

Hypertension is the most common chronic disease and the main risk factor for cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases. It is one of the major public health issues facing the world. Actively looking for modifiable risk factors for hypertension is of great significance for preventing and controlling its occurrence and development, and reducing the harm caused by complications of hypertension. Genetic background, age and unhealthy lifestyle are recognized as the main risk factors for hypertension.

Previous evidence has shown that physical activity and fitness training play an important role in preventing the occurrence and development of hypertension. Grip strength is a reliable indicator of skeletal muscle strength and systemic muscle status. Walking is the most common daily behavior and a simple and effective way of exercise, which is closely related to human health. However, the association between grip strength and walking speed and the risk of hypertension is still uncertain.

Recently, the National Clinical Research Center for Kidney Diseases of Nanfang Hospital of Southern Medical University published a study titled "Combined handgrip strength and walking pace, genetic susceptibility, and incident hypertension: A prospective study in UK Biobank" in Scand J Med Sci Sports . The study showed that the stronger the handgrip strength and the faster the walking speed, the lower the risk of hypertension . Professor Qin Xianhui of the National Clinical Research Center for Kidney Diseases of Nanfang Hospital of Southern Medical University is the corresponding author of the article, and Dr. He Panpan is the first author.

The study included more than 200,000 middle-aged and older participants from the UK Biobank study who did not have hypertension at baseline. The average handgrip strength was 24.0 and 40.0 kg for women and men, respectively. 10,447 (4.9%) participants reported a slow walking speed, 104,955 (49.0%) participants reported a moderate walking speed, and 98,812 (46.1%) participants reported a fast walking speed.

After about 12 years of follow-up, 13,344 (6.2%) participants developed hypertension. Compared with participants with weak grip strength, that is, those in the first gender-specific group, the risk of new hypertension in the second, third, and fourth groups of grip strength was reduced by 20%, 26%, and 28%, respectively. At the same time, compared with participants who reported a slow walking speed, the risk of hypertension in participants with an average or fast walking speed was significantly reduced by 48% and 57%, respectively.

Further joint analysis showed that compared with participants who walked slowly and had weak grip strength, participants with strong grip strength and faster walking speed had a significantly lower risk of hypertension by 64%. In addition, this study divided the participants into three groups according to their genetic risk of hypertension: low, medium, and high. The results showed that participants with the lowest genetic risk of hypertension, the strongest grip strength, and the fastest walking speed had the lowest risk of hypertension.

Grip strength and walking speed reflect the state and function of human muscles and are easy to measure and evaluate in daily life. Our previous studies have also found that people with strong grip strength and fast walking speed have a lower risk of chronic kidney disease and dementia. Therefore, grip strength and walking speed are important direct indicators of overall health status and aging.

For the general population, in the absence of clear clinical indications, they can assess their overall health status through their own grip strength and walking speed, and then maintain and promote their health through self-healthy behaviors, including: no smoking, good exercise (get moving), good sleep (7-9 hours a day), and good diet (3 more: fish, vegetables, fruits; 2 less: red meat, processed meat), that is, 3 good and 1 no, to achieve a self-driven internal cycle of self-health.

Therefore, our series of research results emphasize that actively paying attention to health status and actively improving health levels by evaluating simple health indicators such as grip strength and walking speed is an important way to promote self-health management and achieve proactive health!

References:

He P, Gan X, Ye Z, Liu M, Zhou C, Wu Q, Zhang Y, Yang S, Zhang Y, Qin X. Combined handgrip strength and walking pace, genetic susceptibility, and incident hypertension: A prospective study in UK Biobank. Scand J Med Sci Sports . 2023;33(6):989-999.

Editor | He Panpan Xianghao

Audit | Qin Xianhui

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