In France, more than 1.5 million people suffer from heart failure. According to a study presented at a scientific congress of the European Society of Cardiology (ESC), people with strong legs are less likely to develop heart failure after a heart attack.

This study was conducted among 932 hospitalized patients between 2007 and 2020 with an acute myocardial infarction. Maximal quadriceps strength was measured as an indicator of leg strength. Using the results, all patients were categorized as “high” or “low” strength depending on whether their value was above or below the median for their gender. For women, the median value was 33% of body weight and 52% of body weight for men. In detail, 451 patients had low quadriceps strength and 481 had high strength. “During an average follow-up of 4.5 years, 67 patients (7.2%) developed heart failure. The incidence of heart failure was 10.2 per 1,000 person-years in patients with high quadriceps strength and 22.9 per 1,000 person-years in those with low strength. study.

Compared to low quadriceps strength, high strength was associated with 41% reduced risk to develop heart failure. The researchers found that every 5% increase in body weight in quadriceps strength was associated with an 11% lower likelihood of heart failure. “Quadriceps strength is easy and simple to accurately measure in clinical practice. Our study indicates that quadriceps strength could help identify patients at higher risk of developing heart failure after myocardial infarction who could then benefit from more intense monitoring. The results need to be replicated in other studies, but they suggest that strength training involving the quadriceps muscles should be recommended for patients who have suffered a heart attack to prevent heart failure,” reports study author Kensuke Ueno, a physical therapist at Kitasato University Graduate School of Medical Sciences (Japan). .