Joondalup: Simple tests of grip strength and mobility can diagnose diseases such as dementia in people, according to a new study.
Previous studies have shown that as people age, their muscle strength decreases and they become slower.
The new study, recently published in the Journal of Caucasian Sarcopenia and Muscle, suggests that these symptoms may also be a sign of health problems with aging.
A team including scientists from Australia’s Edith Cowen University examined data from 1,000 women with an average age of 75.
In the tests, they measured the women’s grip strength and the time it took them to get up from a chair, walk three meters, turn and sit back down.
The same test was repeated by these women after five years to see any decrease in their performance.
About 17 percent of the women in the 15-year study had dementia-related events—hospitalization or death due to dementia.
Scientists have found in research that loss of grip strength and slowness of movement can be important signs of dementia. While individual risks are associated with genetics, smoking, alcohol consumption and amount of physical activity.
Women with poor grip strength were twice as likely to experience dementia later in life than women with strong grip, while women with slow movement were less likely to develop dementia. The possibilities were also doubled.
(function(d, s, id){
var js, fjs = d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0];
if (d.getElementById(id)) {return;}
js = d.createElement(s); js.id = id;
js.src = “//connect.facebook.net/en_US/sdk.js#xfbml=1&version=v2.3&appId=770767426360150”;
fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js, fjs);
}(document, ‘script’, ‘facebook-jssdk’));
(function(d, s, id) {
var js, fjs = d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0];
if (d.getElementById(id)) return;
js = d.createElement(s); js.id = id;
js.src = “//connect.facebook.net/en_GB/sdk.js#xfbml=1&version=v2.7”;
fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js, fjs);
}(document, ‘script’, ‘facebook-jssdk’));