How your HEIGHT affects your health:
Taller people have a lower risk of heart disease and diabetes - but greater
risk of cancer
It is an
attribute written into your DNA - how tall a person will be is determined
before they are born.
Yet, in
recent decades the height of children and adults the world over has increased,
with most generations reaching adulthood taller than their parents.
Now, a new
study has revealed how tall a person is, can have far-reaching consequences for
their health.
Height
has an important impact on mortality, increasing the risk of a number of
diseases, regardless of body fat mass and other influential factors. A new study has
found taller people have a lower risk for cardiovascular disease and type 2
diabetes, but a higher risk of cancer due to dietary and interacting factors
such as genetics and stress.
Past research
has shown tall people have a lower risk of cardiovascular disease and type 2
diabetes than their shorter peers. Yet, the
taller a person is, the greater their risk of certain cancers.
Professor
Matthias Schulze of the German Institute of Human Nutrition in Potsdam said:
'Epidemiological data show that per 6.5cm in height the risk of cardiovascular
mortality decreases by six per cent. 'But, cancer
mortality, by contrast, increases by four per cent.'
Taller people are
more likely to be diagnosed with breast and colon cancer, as well as melanoma
Professor
Schulze, along with colleagues Professor Norbert Stefan and Professor Hans-Ulrich Häring
at the University of Tübingen, and Professor Frank Hu of the Harvard
School of Public Health, suspect the increase in body height is a marker of
overnutrition of high-calorie food rich in animal protein, at different stages
of growth.
Therefore,
already in utero, lifelong programming likely takes place that until now has
mainly been established for insulin-like growth factor one and two.
Professor
Stefan added: 'Accordingly, our new data show that tall people are more
sensitive to insulin and have lower fat content in the liver, which may explain
their lower risk for cardiovascular disease and type 2 diabetes.'
The findings
fit in with published data that suggest tall people have relative protection
against disorders of the lipid metabolism. The authors
note it is the activation of the insulin-like growth factor one and two
signalling pathways that is likely linked to an increased risk of certain
cancers, specifically breast and colon cancer and melanoma because cell growth
is permanently activated.
The result is
an inverse association with the risk of cardiovascular disease and type 2
diabetes, but a positive association with the risk of cancer.
The
scientists advocate considering the factor growth and adult height in the
prevention of the above-mentioned major diseases.
In
particular, physicians should be made more aware of the fact that tall people -
although less often affected by cardiovascular disease or type 2 diabetes - have
an increased risk of cancer.
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