Dementia, Grip Derek Jones Dementia, Grip Derek Jones

Curious Facts About Dementia and Handgrip Strength

At Anatomical Concepts, we are getting to grips with the Carbonhand again, so we have been delving into the research literature and sorting through the significant, curious and sometimes serious, facts to do with grip strength and human function. We don’t often write about Dementia but it is one of the conditions that shortens lives and seriously affects healthspan so we certainly don’t doubt it’s importance as a topic.

In Dr Peter Attia's excellent book, "Outlive", he mentions a recent study (by Irene Esteban-Cornejo et al, 2022) looking at nearly half a million patients in the UK which found that grip strength, which is strongly correlated with overall strength and indeed lifespan, was inversely associated with the incidence of dementia. These are findings are from the UK Biobank prospective cohort study.

People with the weakest grip had a 72% higher incidence of dementia compared to those in the top quartile for grip strength (the strongest).

What do we make of this?

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