Larger muscle area linked to lower heart failure risk
Compared with less muscle, greater muscle area was linked to lower relative heart failure risk, with a hazard ratio of 0.810 after accounting for activity.
Our read
Populations- Studied:
- Cohort study of 10,524 Mass General Brigham Biobank participants, median 4.3 years
- What changed:
- Heart failure risk was lower with greater muscle area (hazard ratio 0.810) after accounting for activity
- The catch:
- Underlying health differences could explain the link between muscle area and heart failure
- In the record:
- The 16th paper on skeletal muscle area with results in people; 77 on record in all.
Editor of record: Boris Djordjevic · AgingResearch.News
Among 10,524 Mass General Brigham Biobank participants with CT scans taken for medical care, greater muscle area was linked to lower heart failure risk in an observational study. Researchers measured muscle and fat areas on the scans and assessed physical activity through questionnaires. Over a median 4.3 years, 694 participants developed heart failure, a condition in which the heart cannot pump blood adequately.
The hazard ratio—a relative measure of risk over time—was 0.810 after accounting for age, sex, cardiovascular risk factors and activity. It was 0.830 after also accounting for body mass index, a measure of weight relative to height, and 0.810 after further adjustment for fat areas.
Why it matters
For heart failure prevention as people age, the authors suggested that muscle mass may be an important, potentially modifiable factor in risk.
Caveats
Participants with more muscle may have differed in underlying health in ways the analysis did not capture; all had scans obtained for medical care. The conference abstract did not specify the muscle-area increment used for its hazard ratios.
The paper
Cardiovascular Imaging Rsch Cntr; Massachusetts General Hosp
AHA Scientific Sessions 2026 Abstract, Nov 2, 2026
Presented at AHA Scientific Sessions 2026, abstract 6764
Comments
Be the first to comment.