A firm handshake is the sign of a healthy heart — as weaker grippers ‘risk heart damage’, study claims

A STRONG handshake is the sign of a healthier heart, a study shows.

Volunteers were asked to squeeze a pressure sensor as hard as possible. The 5,065 men and women then had an MRI scan as well as other medical tests.

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And researchers at Queen Mary University of London found those with a stronger hand grip pumped more blood per heartbeat, despite a lower heart mass.

They also had less chance of “heart remodelling”, which happens due to high blood pressure or heart attacks.

Weaker grippers had a greater risk of lasting heart damage. None of those tested, aged 40 to 69, had previous heart conditions.

The study also revealed 17.3million deaths per year worldwide are caused by cardiovascular disease, expected to rise to 23.6million by 2030.

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Author Dr Steffen Petersen said: “We found that better handgrip strength is associated with having a healthier heart structure and function, which was not previously known.

Handgrip strength is an inexpensive, reproducible and easy to implement measure, and could become an important method for identifying those at a high risk of heart disease and preventing major life-changing events, such as heart attacks.

“Focused surveillance and intervention may improve outcomes.”