Being short may increase chances of death by dementia
A recent UK study finds men below 1.68m in height 50% more liable to suffer death from senility.
The study, was conducted by researchers at the University of Edinburgh and has shown that being short increases a person’s chances, especially men, of dying from dementia.
Researchers led by Dr Tom Russ from the University of Edinburgh’s College of Medicine & Veterinary Medicine examined and compared results from 18 studies consisting of 180,000 male and female candidates of varying heights and found that men less than 1.68m in height are 50 per cent more likely to suffer death from Alzheimer’s or other forms of dementia than those taller than 1.78m.
The study found that women, although generally less at risk, also face higher chances (35%) of death by the disease if they are below 1.55m.
The scientists however have highlighted that there is no concrete evidence indicating that being short actually causes Alzheimer’s or other forms of senility, but based on the findings of the research, height could be an early indicator to mark other key factors leading to the disease.
Senior author Dr David Batty, of University College London was as saying “Short height in itself of course does not ’cause’ dementia. Rather, height captures a number of early life factors, including early-life illness, adversity, poor nutrition and psychosocial stress, and so allows us to examine the effect of these factors on dementia more closely”.
Study leader Dr Tom Russ, claimed that “the association between height and dementia death remained when we took into account early life or adult socioeconomic status and other relevant factors, including obesity, smoking, cardiovascular disease risk factors and longstanding illness.”
An estimated 850,000 people in the UK are thought to be suffering from dementia, 60 per cent of whom have Alzheimer’s.
Source: Free Malaysia Today
Published: 06 Nov 2014
