Shorter people have higher risk of coronary heart disease

This article talks about the higher risk for shorter people to suffer from coronary heart disease. Coronary heart disease is when the arteries become tighten when they transfer blood to the heart because of an increase of plaque. In the article they state that narrowed is the principal cause of early on deaths in the world. Professor SirNilesh Samani from the British Heart Foundation have found that for over 60 years there is an inverse relationship between hight and For more than 60 years it has been known that there is an inverse connection between height and risk of coronary heart disease. But it is still unclear in this relationship can also be due because of cofounding factors such as malnutrition. In the new research done by professor Sir Nilesh Samani they have found that the risk involving coronary heart disease and height are not associated with confounding factors, The study collected from 200,000 participants their genetic data, the participant vary from having and not having the disease also looked at genetic variations that influence on coronary heart disease and height. The researchers found that a change in height of 2.5 inch can increase the chances of coronary heart disease by a 13.5%, also found that cholesterol it's associated with the connection between coronary heart disease and height.

Short Stature May Pose Higher Risk of Heart Disease

            It was recently reported that short stature could increase the chances of heart disease.  Originally, researchers thought this was a joke when it was brought to their attention.  Researchers tested about 200,000 men and women and it was found that every 2.5 inches reduces the chances of heart disease by 13.5 percent.  A person that is 5 feet tall has a 30 percent higher risk of heart disease than someone who is 5 foot 6 inches.  That is a large risk over something that cannot be controlled.

            It was discovered that 180 genetic variations control height, scientists tested these variants to see if they also affected heart disease risk.  They found out that short stature was linked to high levels of LDL, cholesterol that increases heart disease risk, higher levels of triglycerides, and blood fats.  To many scientists, this was not a strong enough finding to account that heart disease and short stature were linked so research will continue.

            I found this article very interesting because of the fact that a factor that cannot be controlled can increase the chances of a highly fatal disease.  I myself am fairly short so now knowing that my risks are increased, I will do whatever is in my power to reduce them in any way. 

Short people are 'at greater risk of coronary heart disease'

http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/292181.php

Coronary heart disease occurs when plaque builds up and narrows the arteries that supply blood to the heart.  The plaque buildup can either completely block the artery or detach and cause a pulmonary embolism.  Coronary heart disease is one of the world’s leading causes of premature death.  Recent studies have shown that the biological processes that determine height may also affect a person’s susceptibility to coronary heart disease.  In this study, genetic data was taken from 200,000 participants and it was found that every 2.5in decrease in height affects coronary heart disease risk by 13.5%.  One explanation of this may be from the relativity of the person’s size to the size of one’s coronal arteries (the shorter the person, the smaller their coronal arteries will be).

This article was very interesting to me.  My family and I are of short stature so right away this article caught my attention.  My family also has a history of high cholesterol but that may be from living in the Philippines (Filipino food tends to be high in sugar and cholesterol).  The correlations in this article were also quite interesting such as the correlation between height and size of arteries.  It also made me think about serving sizes and to whom the serving sizes are relative to.