There are all kinds of risks attached to being shorter thsn average but none can be answered in a simple manner. Of greatest surprise is the report that being short increases the chance of heart disease.
The New York Times reports that research published in the New England Journal of Medicine suggests that “shorter stature increases the risk of heart disease.”
The AP reports that researchers “collected information from researchers around the world on 65,000 people with known risk for heart disease (two-thirds had already had a heart attack) and a comparison group of about 128,000 others.” The investigators “first...verified that stature played a role: The risk of coronary artery disease – clogged arteries – rose 13.5 percent with each 6.5 centimeter (about 2.5 inches) decrease in height.” Then, “studying 12 risk factors, they found two were related to genes regulating height: LDL or bad cholesterol, and triglycerides, another type of fat in the blood.”
The NPR “Shots” blog reports that “for someone 2.5 inches shorter than average, the risk of coronary artery disease increases by about 13.5 percent.
There's such a burden to being outside of the normal range in any aspect of life that it's hard to move on. Does knowing you are at greater risk in any way reduce that risk? If not, why tell us? Does all this mean that being taller, say 2.5 inches taller than average, reduce the risk of heart disease? Or is it possible that being taller, outside the normal range, has the same dangerous effect as being shorter?
Did being taller create an evolutionary Darwinism in which being just the right height enhances your survival rights? Too short and you can't reach the high fruit. Too tall...what possible bad effect there? Too tall and you did not fit through the opening to the grave site? Too tall and you were more exposed to predatory animals? The words "stand out in a crowd" come to mind.
Don't!
Don't!
No comments:
Post a Comment