Stretching Test May Reveal Arterial Stiffness

Sit on the floor and reach for your toes. If you can get your fingers past them and you're 40 or older, that could be a sign that your arteries are stretchy, researchers say.

In an unusual finding, new research suggests that flexibility, as defined by how far you can reach while sitting down, may be linked to the stiffness of your arteries. It's known that arterial stiffness often precedes life-threatening cardiovascular disease.

"Our findings have potentially important clinical insinuation because trunk flexibility can be easily evaluated," study co-author Kenta Yamamoto, of the University of North Texas and the National Institute of Health and Nutrition in Japan, said in a news release from the American Physiological Society. "This simple test might help to prevent age-related arterial stiffening."

Researchers don't know why flexibility might be linked to arteries. One theory is that people who are more flexible do stretching exercises that help slow down stiffening of the arteries. The findings appear in the October issue of the American Journal of Physiology - Heart and Circulatory Physiology.

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