Weird “Tennis Elbow” Link to Heart Disease
The older you get, the more pain can just become “part of life.”
Maybe throbbing carpel tunnel syndrome has made it difficult to do everyday tasks like writing with a pen or typing on your computer.
Or perhaps you’ve played tennis for years and developed “tennis elbow.”
You notice how much these things impact your quality of life, of course.
But what you probably don’t pick up on is their connection to your heart health.
It’s easy to assume that heart problems just affect… well… your heart.
But nothing could be further from the truth. Because when your heart isn’t functioning well, EVERYTHING in your body is affected.
You see, it’s your heart’s job to ensure the REST of your body gets the oxygen and nutrients it needs to function at the top of its game.
So although it might sound strange at first glance, I wasn’t at all surprised when I saw the research linking a higher risk of cardiovascular disease and musculoskeletal disorders (like that tennis elbow).
For the study, researchers tracked over 1,200 workers with an average age of 42. They followed up with the volunteers monthly for nine years to see if they developed any of FOUR musculoskeletal disorders.
- carpel tunnel syndrome
- rotator cuff tendinopathy
- lateral epicondylopathy (tennis elbow)
- medial epicondylopahty (golfer’s elbow)
Ultimately, the results showed that folks who were at a 15 percent higher than average risk of heart disease were FOUR TIMES more likely to develop a musculoskeletal disorder.
But it gets worse. The participants with HIGHER cardiovascular risk were a staggering 17 times more likely to develop four or more of these musculoskeletal disorders.
That’s living with a LOT of pain.
There are likely various reasons why this connection is so strong. For example, heart disease increases inflammation in the body, which can, in turn, boost the risk of musculoskeletal injuries.
Plus, the better your heart functions, the better your body is prepared to repair itself when it’s under stress from something, like a repeated motion (think of working on a factory line or at a checkout counter).
There are two vital takeaways here.
The first is that your heart health is tied to EVERY aspect of your health and quality of life.
The second is that if you’re experiencing one or more musculoskeletal conditions like tendonitis or tennis elbow, make sure you’re talking to your doctor about your heart AND your soft tissues.
Because, as we’ve seen here with this research, they could be related.
P.S. Wouldn’t it be great if you could pop a few pills and watch your odds of heart disease plummet? Well, it could be YOUR reality. Except, it’s not a pill. It’s a (DELICIOUS!) type of food.
SOURCE:
“Cardiovascular Disease Risk Factors Predict the Development and Numbers of Common Musculoskeletal Disorders in a Prospective Cohort.” Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine ():10.1097/JOM.0000000000002895, June 2, 2023. | DOI: 10.1097/JOM.0000000000002895
