CardioExchange Archive

CardioExchange, an NEJM practice community for medical professionals dedicated to improving cardiac patient care, was active from 2009 to 2015. CardioExchange fostered discussion between clinicians from across the globe.

April 9th, 2015

Association Between Shorter Height and Heart Disease Largely Explained by Genes

The “well-established” link between shorter adult height and increased risk for coronary artery disease (CAD) is largely explained by height-associated genetic variants, researchers conclude in the New England Journal of Medicine.

Using data from genome-wide association studies, the researchers examined the relationship between 180 height-associated genetic variants and CAD among 65,000 cases (adults with histories of myocardial infarction, coronary revascularization, or angiographic coronary disease) and 128,000 controls. These variants have previously been shown to explain roughly 10% of the variation in adult height.

Overall, for each 1-standard-deviation decrease in genetically determined height, there was a 13.5% increase in CAD risk. Higher LDL cholesterol and triglyceride levels were also found to be associated with shorter height, but they accounted for only 30% of the observed relationship between height and CAD. Accordingly, the authors attribute much of the association to “shared biologic process that determine achieved height and the development of atherosclerosis.”

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4 Responses to “Association Between Shorter Height and Heart Disease Largely Explained by Genes”

  1. Moamin Alasouli, MSc says:
    April 11, 2015 at 3:59 am

    Not make sense to me

  2. Jean-Pierre Usdin, MD says:
    April 12, 2015 at 10:54 am

    High is beautifull!
    To live long, keep a high height and high telomeres length.

  3. Jeoffry Gordon, MD, MPH says:
    April 12, 2015 at 11:19 pm

    This study adds to the validation of the physiologic paradigm developed by Ayurvedic medicine in India over 5000 years ago. It would predict that tall thin people (of a “vata” constitution)are not prone to coronary artery disease.

  4. William L Blanchet, MD says:
    April 16, 2015 at 6:34 pm

    Don’t forget that the #1 killer of tall thin men is Heart Disease.