Suzy Cohen: Are you tall or short? Disease risk may be related to height
An interesting study was published in the June 2022 issue of PLOS Genetics, and it has to do with height.
Researchers evaluated more than hundreds of thousands of people to see if their height had any correlation with medical problems. The average height of a man is 5 feet 9 inches and a woman is 5 feet 4 inches, so anything above that is considered “tall.” As it pertains to the study, the mean height of all of the study participants was 176 cm (5 feet, 6 inches).
Keep this in mind as you continue to learn how being tall impacts disease risk.
What’s fascinating is that stature isn’t something that comes to anyone’s mind when thinking about risk factors. When someone is ill, the typical risk factors evaluated are your environmental exposures as well as where you live, the kind of food you eat, weight, genetics, your family history of disorders and toxic exposures. But, how tall you are never comes to mind. It seems like such an implausible claim!
The difficulty is that height is not modifiable. Other risk factors are easily modifiable, but, again, being short, average in height or towering is not something you can change! Anyway, taller people apparently have a higher risk of peripheral nerve damage (neuropathy) and varicose veins, and lower risk of heart disease. This contradicts prior studies, by the way.
We’re seeing more and more Alzheimer’s today as the population ages. One trial examining about 500 people found that men who are about 6 feet tall are almost 60% less likely to develop dementia or Alzheimer’s compared to those shorter than 5 feet 7 inches. The same benefit holds true for taller women; however, the correlation is not as tight.
What about people of shorter stature? Research currently shows that someone below average height has a lower risk of getting cancer. In men, the risk of having prostate cancer also is lower if you’re below average height. It’s not yet possible to fully explain this; however, growth hormone levels play a role in the development of cancer.
The information presented today is based on numerous studies and meta-analyses, so what I’m saying is not carved in stone. I just find it so engrossing how height is becoming a better-known, albeit non-modifiable, risk factor for disease development. But, why? People of shorter stature (like me!) have reduced telomere shortening — and that’s a good thing. Childhood illness and exposure to pathogens plays a role, as do lifestyle factors, diet and genetics.
Personally, I don’t think anyone should worry about their height. You can’t change it anyway, so while investigators continue to tease out our destiny based upon height, I suggest we all just focus on the modifiable factors instead. You can make changes to things within your control, and the tweaks you make now translate to lifelong health and longevity, not only for you, but also for your children, their children and so forth.
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This article originally appeared on The Gainesville Sun: Cohen: Are you tall or short? Disease risk may be related to height
