Strong leg muscles may be linked with better outcomes after heart attack, study suggests
Growing evidence shows that building muscle strength can have benefits for your heart, even leading to better outcomes after a heart attack.
Having a higher level of leg muscle strength appears to be “strongly associated” with a lower risk of developing heart failure after a heart attack, according to new research presented this month in Prague at the Heart Failure 2023 scientific congress of the European Society of Cardiology.
The findings have not been published in a peer-reviewed journal, but they highlight the importance of regular exercise and maintaining muscle strength in older age, as muscle mass can diminish with age, possibly affecting cardiovascular health, said Kensuke Ueno and Dr. Kentaro Kamiya, researchers in the Department of Rehabilitation at Kitasato University School of Allied Health Sciences in Japan and authors of the new research.
Kamiya said that after a heart attack, medically known as a myocardial infarction, the heart can go through a process called myocardial remodeling or cardiac remodeling, in which fibrous tissue accumulates, causing an enlargement of the heart. But emerging evidence suggests that exercise-based cardiac rehabilitation can alter the course of such remodeling in a way that improves heart function.
