A new study has found that your legs could indicate how likely you are to suffer from a serious long-term health problem.
Research has revealed that people with thin legs have a higher risk of heart failure - a condition which means that the heart is unable to pump blood around the body properly - after suffering a heart attack. Previous studies have shown that having strong quadriceps, the muscles at the front of your thigh, is associated with a lower risk of death in patients with coronary artery disease.
Researchers said that a heart attack, known medically as myocardial infarction, is the most common cause of heart failure, with around 6% to 9% of heart attack patients going on to have one. The new study tested the possibility that leg strength is associated with a lower risk of developing heart failure after acute myocardial infarction, The Mirror reports.
READ MORE: NHS signs and symptoms of measles in children after warning of rise in cases across UK
The Japanese researchers analysed the link between quadriceps strength and the risk of developing heart failure. The study found that compared to low quads strength, a high strength level in patients was associated with a 41% lower risk of developing heart failure.
The research team also found that each 5% body weight increment in quadriceps strength was associated with an 11% lower likelihood of heart failure. A total of 932 people hospitalised with acute myocardial infarction took part in the study, with an average age of 66.
Their quadriceps strength was measured by having patients sit on a chair and contracting their quadriceps muscles as hard as possible for five seconds, with a handheld dynamometer attached to the ankle recording the results and strength expressed relative to body weight. Patients were classified as having 'high' or 'low' strength according to whether their value was above or below the median for their sex.
During an average follow-up of four and a half years, 67 patients (7.2%) from the study developed heart failure. The incidence of heart failure was 10.2 per 1,000 person-years in patients with high quadriceps strength, compared to 22.9 per 1,000 person-years in those with low strength.
Study author Kensuke Ueno, a physical therapist at Kitasato University Graduate School of Medical Sciences, said: "Quadriceps strength is easy and simple to measure accurately in clinical practice. Our study indicates that quadriceps strength could help to identify patients at a higher risk of developing heart failure after myocardial infarction who could then receive more intense surveillance."
He added: "The findings need to be replicated in other studies, but they do suggest that strength training involving the quadriceps muscles should be recommended for patients who have experienced a heart attack to prevent heart failure."
According to the NHS, the main symptoms of heart failure are breathlessness, feeling tired most of the time, feeling light-headed or fainting, and swollen ankles and legs. Some people also experience other symptoms, such as a persistent cough, a fast heart rate and dizziness, and these signs can develop quickly (acute heart failure) or gradually over weeks or months (chronic heart failure).
If your blood test shows you might have heart failure, your GP should refer you to a specialist heart failure team and you may be offered further tests. Tests you may have to diagnose heart failure include blood tests, an electrocardiogram, an echocardiogram, or a chest X-ray.
READ NEXT:
