Link between height and heart disease needs more research, says heart charity

9 June 2010

In response to research published in the European Heart Journal which found a possible link between someone’s height and their risk of heart disease, Fotini Rozakeas, cardiac nurse at the British Heart Foundation, said:

“This study provides an interesting insight into the potential link between height and heart disease, but there needs to be more time and money spent researching this peculiar association.

“It’s the first time this association has been looked at using the combination of results from several different studies and, despite a number of theories, it is still unclear why short people should have an increased risk of heart disease.

“Whilst height is used to calculate Body Mass Index - a marker that might help indicate a risk of heart disease - there are lots of other risk factors to take into account like high blood pressure, high cholesterol, smoking, diabetes and obesity.

“It doesn’t matter if you are tall, short or somewhere in between, it’s still so important to do regular exercise, eat a healthy and balanced diet, stop smoking and control your weight to protect your heart health.”

Notes:

Statement issued in response to ‘Short stature is associated with coronary heart
disease: a systematic review of the literature and a meta-analysis’ published in the European Heart Journal, Tuula A. Paajanen, et al European Heart Journal. doi:10.1093/eurheartj/ehq183, published on behalf of the European Society of Cardiology.

http://eurheartj.oxfordjournals.org/content/early/2010/06/04/eurheartj.ehq155.full.pdf+html

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