Height Loss Linked to Heart Disease

Ivanhoe Newswire
Tuesday, December 12, 2006; 12:00 AM

(Ivanhoe Newswire) -- It's typical for men and women to lose a little height as they age. However, a new study reveals men who "shrink" three centimeters or more have an increased risk of death and of heart disease.

Investigators from the University College Medical School in London conducted the study. They used participants from a previous study done from 1978 to 1980. That study was called the British Regional Heart Study and included more than 4,200 men. Twenty years later, researchers followed up with the men who were now 60 to 79 years old.

The participants were asked to describe their lifestyle and list any medical conditions. Their height and weight were also measured again. Researchers say the men lost an average of 1.67 centimeters in height. Investigators then divided the men into four groups based on how much height they lost.

The risk of death increased with height loss and was substantially higher in men who lost three centimeters or more. In fact, those men were 64-percent more likely to die during the study than those who lost less than one centimeter of height. Researchers report most of the deaths were caused by cardiovascular disease.

It's unclear what causes the link between height loss and heart disease, authors write. They suggest there may be a factor causing both the bone loss, which leads to height loss, and the heart disease.

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SOURCE: Archives of Internal Medicine, 2006;166:2546-2552