A recent finding has brought to light the correlation between grip strength and dementia. Is it possible that More Muscle Power Means Lower Alzheimer’s Disease Risk? Dr Patricia A. Boyle with the Rush Alzheimer’s Disease Center in Chicago and her team have discovered that increased grip muscle strength lowers the probability of being diagnosed with Alzheimer’s Disease (AD).

The four year study also indicated the this was true of the decline in mental function in Alzheimer’s patients. It has also shown that weight and physical activity also greatly influence the risk of being diagnosed with AD.
As noted by Dr. Boyle in the November issue of Annals of Neurology, while this study noticed a decline in the instances of Alzheimer’s Disease with the increase of grip muscle strength, no studies have been done on whether or not muscle strength alone might influence the development of any dementia.

Via Email, Boyle told Reuters Health “These findings support the link between physical health and cognition in aging and the importance of maintaining good physical function and strength”. In 970 participants diagnosed as dementia-free the strength of nine muscle groups of the legs and arms were tested as were the the breathing muscles.

The participants were men and women between the ages of fifty-four and one hundred with the average age being close to eighty. During a four year follow-up, one hundred thirty-eight of the participants developed AD. Those who developed AD were among the oldest and weakest in the study group.

Dr. Boyle’s team adjusted for age and education level and still found that grip muscle strength still had a strong influence on risk levels for individuals contracting Alzheimer’s Disease. When ranked in the top ten percent for muscle strength, participants were sixty-one percent less likely to develop the disease versus the weakest ten percent.

Picture: © Bernd Jürgens – Fotolia.com

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