Are Tall People Healthier?

Many people relate taller heights with better genetics and being healthier. With the new findings of scientists in Sweden, this may prove to be a myth. As you have probably heard, cancer can occur due to a variety of hereditary genetics and environmental factors. Nutritional deficiency, smoking, and high stress levels are the obvious factors that come to our mind but can we also consider height as a cancer risk factor? Let’s have a closer look.

Scientists spend many hours researching different cancer risk factors in order to find a way to eradicate cancer. However, it still remains as one of the deadliest diseases. In one of the studies, scientists studied 5.5 million Swedish men and women and they calculated that for every 10 centimeter increase in height the cancer risk increase by 18% in women and 10% in men. Many factors could be responsible for the association between height and risk of cancer. For instance, taller people have greater amount of growth hormone in their body, more number of cells, and more calories required.  Professor Greaves of the Institute of Cancer Research in London states that in addition to cell growth, this hormone prevents cell death. Therefore, the amount of growth hormone increases the total cell number in the body which also increases the risk of cancer. Moreover, tall people may have higher risk of certain cancers. I would encourage you to watch the following video if you want to find out what type of cancers are more probable to develop in tall people.

However, it is not all bad for tall people since studies have shown that they have lower risks for heart diseases. Researchers tested 200,000 people and found the genetic code that relates height and coronary heart diseases. They determined that for every 2.5ins decrease in height, the risk of coronary heart disease increases by 13.5%. Cardiologist and CBS News medical contributor, Dr. Narula, explained the case by saying that shorter people may get their coronary arteries blocked easier because their coronary arteries have smaller diameters or maybe this is the case because tall people are more active or have healthier habits than short people. Dr. Samani, a cardiologist at the University of Leicester in the U.K, believes that nutritional deficiency in childhood could be the reason that some people become shorter and this may cause health problems during their lifetime.

In general, these results just show the association between height and cancer or height and coronary heart diseases; these associations do not necessarily mean that if you are tall you will get cancer or if you are short you will die because of coronary heart diseases. Most important factor in determining your health condition is your lifestyle.

-Amir Jafarvand