People with strong chest and back less likely to have a heart attack, analysis suggests

People with strong chest and back muscles are less likely to have a heart attack or die prematurely, analysis using artificial intelligence suggests. Researchers led by the University of Edinburgh used AI to examine hospital scans of 1,722 patients, aged mostly in their 50s, who had chest pain. Those with greater muscle density in their chests and backs were less likely to have a heart attack or die in the decade after the scan, the study found. Researchers suspect people with this type of “good-quality skeletal” muscle are those who exercise more and have greater strength in their torsos. The findings, published in the journal Radiology, suggest this could help reduce the risk of having a heart attack or dying early. Prof Michelle Williams, the senior author of the study, found the study’s findings so compelling that she has started going to the gym twice a week and aims to walk for an hour a day. “It is fascinating that people’s skeletal muscle could be linked to their risk of having a heart attack. The muscles which show up in the scans we used – coronary computed tomography angiogram scans – are principally the back muscles, part of the pectoral muscles – or ‘pecs’ – and the intercostal muscles between the ribs. “So I am now personally interested in exercises like cycling, planks and pilates, which I enjoy and may have an effect on these muscles. …