NEWS YOU CAN USE: Muscular strength associated with lower cancer mortality.

In this study, they looked at 8,677 men, age 20 to 82, whom they followed over a period of over two decades. . . .

They found that the highest third of the group in muscle strength had about 40% lower cancer mortality than the lowest third in muscle strength. They also found, as expected, that higher body mass index, as well as higher percent body fat, were both associated with much higher rates of death through cancer; the obese had a cancer death rate almost double that of men with a normal BMI.

But here’s the real kicker: after adjusting for muscular strength, the associations of cancer with body mass index and body fat disappeared. . . .

This is of course association; it was not a randomized clinical trial. But the association of muscular strength with lower cancer mortality is striking, and especially the fact that it is a better marker than body fat or BMI.