Older people have a higher risk of developing peripheral neuropathy as well as skin and bone infections, but a lower risk of heart disease, high blood pressure and high cholesterol, according to the world’s largest study. about height and diseases.
A person’s height increases and reduces their risk of various diseases, according to research led by Sridharan Raghavan of Rocky Mountain Regional VA Medical Center in the United States. The findings are published in the journal PLOS Genetics.
Height has been a factor associated with many common conditions, ranging from heart disease to cancer. But scientists have struggled to determine whether being high or low is what puts people at risk, or whether factors that affect height, such as nutrition and socioeconomic status, are really to blame.
In the study, the researchers set out to eliminate these confounding factors by looking separately at the connections between various diseases and a person’s actual height, and the connections with their expected height based on their genetics.
The team used data from the VA Million Veteran program, including genetic and health information from more than 200,000 white adults and more than 50,000 black adults. The study looked at more than 1,000 conditions and traits, making it the largest study of height and disease to date.
The results confirmed previous findings from smaller studies that being high is associated with an increased risk of atrial fibrillation and varicose veins, and a lower risk of coronary heart disease, high blood pressure, and high cholesterol.
Researchers also found new associations between being taller and having a higher risk of peripheral neuropathy, which is caused by damage to the nerves in the limbs, as well as infections of the skin and bones, such as leg and foot ulcers.
Sign up for First Edition, our free daily newsletter, every weekday morning at 7:00 BST
Researchers now believe that height may be a previously unrecognized risk factor for several common diseases. However, they warned that more studies were needed to clarify some of the findings and that future work would benefit from studying a more diverse international population.
“We have found evidence that adult height can affect more than 100 clinical features, including various conditions associated with poor outcomes and quality of life: peripheral neuropathy, lower extremity ulcers, and chronic venous insufficiency,” Raghavan said. “We conclude that height may be an unrecognizable unrecognizable risk factor for several conditions common in adults.”