The PURE Study, encompassing 139,691 adults from 17 countries across five continents, reveals a striking quantitative relationship between muscle strength and survival. Each 5-kilogram decline in handgrip strength correlates with a 16% elevation in all-cause mortality risk—a finding that proved more robust than systolic blood pressure when both metrics were tested simultaneously in the same statistical model.
This association remained statistically significant across multiple causes of death, including cardiovascular mortality (16% increase), non-cardiovascular death (15% increase), myocardial infarction (14% increase), and stroke (14% increase). With 3,379 deaths recorded during a median follow-up of four years, the consistency of these findings across diverse populations and income levels suggests grip strength may warrant integration into routine clinical risk stratification protocols.
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