The chances of having a stroke, a heart attack, or dying young may be hidden in the palm of the hand, a study published in The Lancet, suggests.

The massive study, in which researchers monitored over 140,000 people aged 35 to 70 in 17 countries, found that hand grip strength is better than blood pressure at predicting risk, the BBC reports.

With each 11-pound drop in grip strength, the odds of a fatal heart problem increased by 17% and a stroke by 9%, the study revealed.

“Those whose grip strength declines fastest may be at greater risk of heart problems,” Dr Darryl Leong, one of the researchers at McMaster University in Canada, said.

While it is still unknown why worsening heart health could manifest as a weaker grip, the international research team said that “grip strength makes more accurate predictions than blood pressure alone and could be a new tool for assessing risk.”

However, experts argued the link between grip and the risk of early dead needed more study.

H/T: The BBC

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