Heart Health Current Topics in Heart Health

Shorter legs are linked to heart disease risk.


Having long legs may put you at a lower risk for heart disease than having short legs. Researchers from the University of Britsol, United Kindom, looked at over 12,000 men and women from various ethnic backgrounds between the ages of 44 and 65. They measured each participant’s legs and the thickness of their blood-vessel walls. They found that the longer one’s legs are, the thinner the walls of major blood vessels. And since blood vessels thicken with the onset of atherosclerosis, this indicates that taller people have less plaque on their blood vessels. Shorter people, on the other hand, tend to have thicker blood vessel walls, showing an increased risk of developing atherosclerosis and heart disease. The author’s conclude that one’s leg length is partially influenced not only by genes, but by early-childhood experiences, so “early life factors, such as breastfeeding and childhood nutrition, may reduce cardiovascular risk.”