Can height increase risk for blood clots in veins?
The taller you are, the more likely you may be to develop blood clots in the veins, according to new research in the American Heart Association journal Circulation: Cardiovascular Genetics. In a study of more than two million Swedish siblings, researchers found that the risk of venous thromboembolism -- a type of blood clot that starts in a vein -- was associated with height, with the lowest risk being in shorter participants. They also found: For men shorter than 5'3," the risk for venous thromboembolism dropped 65 percent when compared to the men 6'2" or taller. For women, shorter than 5'1" who were pregnant for the first time, the risk for venous thromboembolism dropped 69 percent, compared to women that were 6 feet or taller. "Height is not something we can do anything about," said lead researcher Bengt Zöller, M.D., Ph.D., associate professor at Lund University and Malmö University Hospital in Malmö, Sweden. "However, the heig...