Shorter men are at bigger risk of developing heart disease

Short men face a greater lifetime risk of clogged arteries, according to a study that confirmed the long-known link between height and heart disease by examining genetics. The study is the first to show that the higher risk is primarily due to a variety of genes that influence whether a man is tall or short, and not potentially confounding factors like poverty or poor nutrition. The research, published in the New England Journal of Medicine, examined 180 genetic variants in a database of nearly 200,000 people with and without coronary heart disease, which is caused by a buildup of plaque in the arteries and can lead to a heart attack.

The more height-increasing genetic variants that you carry, the lower your risk of coronary heart disease.

Christopher Nelson, researcher at the University of Leicester

For example, compared with a man who’s 5-foot-6, a man 5 feet tall on average has a 32 percent higher risk of coronary heart disease because of his relatively shorter stature. Coronary heart disease is the commonest cause of premature death worldwide. Researchers hope that further study of the genes implicated in height and heart disease may lead to better prevention and treatment.

For more than 60 years it has been known that there is an inverse relationship between height and risk of coronary heart disease.

Sir Nilesh Samani, professor of cardiology at the University of Leicester

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