Simple Tests to Assess Health.
1.
More push-ups may mean less risk of heart problems
(https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6484614/)
How many push-ups can you do in a minute? The number may predict your risk of heart disease, suggests a study published online Feb. 15, 2019, by JAMA Network Open.
Harvard researchers analyzed data from 1,104 healthy firefighters, average age 40, who did not have cardiovascular disease. Each man performed as many push-ups as possible in one minute. The men also had treadmill tests to measure their cardiovascular health and aerobic fitness. After 10 years, the researchers found that the men who had originally performed the most push-ups were least likely to get heart disease.
Specifically, those who could do 40 or more push-ups had a 96% lower risk than those who could only do 10 or fewer push-ups. The men who could do at least 11 push-ups had a lower risk too, but the more they could do, the greater the benefit.
The men who scored the highest on the treadmill test also had a low risk of heart disease, but the researchers found that push-up capacity was just as accurate a predictor.
2.
Ability to sit and rise from the floor as a predictor of all-cause mortality.
(https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/23242910/)
“Regarding muscular fitness, it is clear that muscle wasting and sarcopenia are physiologic attributes closely related to the aging process and likely contribute to the muscle strength decrement in older adults. The primary musculoskeletal changes that occur with aging include decreases in muscle mass, reductions in the number, and size of type II fibers, as well as a reduced number of motor units. These changes may lead to impairment in muscle strength determined by maximum voluntary contraction, which has been associated with an increased fall risk in the elderly. The loss of strength with aging appears to begin at about 35 years of age. As previously stated, lack of strength and/or muscle power has also been associated with poor survival. Thus, while not directly assessing muscle power, the SRT may reflect this metric without the need for a cumbersome test that would not be suitable for some older subjects. Evidence demonstrates that the indices of functional status in the elderly are strongly related to lower limb muscle power and strength, suggesting the potential use of the SRT as a functional assessment tool in elderly subjects.”
3.
HOW FIT ARE YOU, REALLY?
Physical fitness is key to a long life and good health. Your body’s capacity to transport and use oxygen during exercise (VO2 max) is the most precise measure of overall cardiovascular fitness. Based on the extensive research of The K. G. Jebsen Center of Exercise in Medicine at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology, you can easily estimate your fitness level by answering a few questions. https://www.worldfitnesslevel.org/#/
4.
Grip Strength and the Risk of Cognitive Decline and Dementia: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Longitudinal Cohort Studies
(https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7890203/)
“Conclusions: Our cohort study provides evidence that HGS is associated with several markers of cognitive aging, including neuroimaging markers of cerebral small vessel disease and subtypes of dementia. Our findings add to a small but growing body of research indicating that the association between muscle strength and dementia may be due to vascular mechanisms and that interventions designed to increase muscle strength, particularly among middle-aged adults, may hold promise for the maintenance of neurocognitive brain health.”
https://link.springer.com/article/10.1186/s41043-024-00500-y
“Hand grip strength (HGS) is a simple, reliable measure of muscle function and overall health, especially in aging populations. It is strongly linked to sarcopenia—the age-related loss of muscle mass, strength, and function—and may serve as an important health biomarker. Lower HGS is associated with conditions such as Type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease, stroke, kidney and liver disease, certain cancers, osteoporosis, frailty, and fragility fractures. It is also connected to higher hospitalization rates, poorer nutrition, lower quality of life, and increased mortality. HGS can be easily measured with a hand-held dynamometer, though normal values vary by population and tend to be lower in Asians, women, sedentary individuals, and those with fewer socioeconomic advantages. Overall, evidence supports HGS as a practical “vital sign” for assessing health across the lifespan.”
5.
Your Heart Rate and Your Death
(https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/26598376/)
Results: A total of 46 studies were included in the meta-analysis, involving 1 246 203 patients and 78 349 deaths for all-cause mortality, and 848 320 patients and 25 800 deaths for cardiovascular mortality. The relative risk with 10 beats/min increment of resting heart rate was 1.09 (95% CI 1.07-1.12) for all-cause mortality and 1.08 (95% CI 1.06-1.10) for cardiovascular mortality. Compared with the lowest category, patients with a resting heart rate of 60-80 beats/min had a relative risk of 1.12 (95% CI 1.07-1.17) for all-cause mortality and 1.08 (95% CI 0.99-1.17) for cardiovascular mortality, and those with a resting heart rate of greater than 80 beats/min had a relative risk of 1.45 (95% CI 1.34-1.57) for all-cause mortality and 1.33 (95% CI 1.19-1.47) for cardiovascular mortality. Overall, the results did not differ after adjustment for traditional risk factors for cardiovascular disease. Compared with 45 beats/min, the risk of all-cause mortality increased significantly with increasing resting heart rate in a linear relation, but a significantly increased risk of cardiovascular mortality was observed at 90 beats/min. Substantial heterogeneity and publication bias were detected.