angina heart

Height and the Heart

There are many genetic factors that have been linked to the risk of heart disease.  Now, there is another factor to add to the list: height.  A new study finds that people who are short have a 50 percent higher risk of heart disease compared to taller people.

Researchers reviewed more than 50 previous studies that examined the link between height and heart problems in more than 3 million men and women.  Short people were defined as those who measures under 5 feet 3 inches in height.  Tall people were defined as those who measured at least 5 feet 9 inches in height.

The study found that the shortest individuals in a given country’s population were one and one half times more likely to suffer from heart problems or to die from heart disease than the tallest individuals in the population.  Each person’s height was considered in the context of population only.

Previous studies have found a link between height and heart problems such as angina, heart attack, and angioplasties.  However, researchers stress the fact that other risk factors, including smoking, weight, and blood pressure, remain more important than the height factor.

Researchers offer several possible explanations for these findings.  One possibility for why shorter people are more likely to suffer from heart problems might be that short people are undernourished in general, which makes them more vulnerable to health problems.  Short individuals are also more likely to be poor, which can make healthcare unaffordable.  Other experts suggest a biological link; that is, a hormone imbalance in shorter people could affect the heart.  Researchers also theorize that the smaller arteries found in shorter people could become clogged more easily, leading to an increased incidence of high blood pressure and heart disease.

This comprehensive review serves as a reminder that people with certain risk factors, including height, should take extra care with their heart health.

About the Author

One of the ways Sammi stays healthy is by working in her vegetable and flower gardens. Garden Harvest Supply is one of her favorite garden stores which offer diatomaceous earth and a garden duster for easy application of powder products.

patients with coronary artery disease often develop angina during periods of increased heart rate?

what is the reason

The coronary artery is the artery that feeds your heart in blood. Your heart is a muscle just like any other, and it needs blood so it can contract effectively.

Angina is a pain you feel in your chest when your heart muscle is not receiving enough blood to function properly.

Increased heart rate, from exercise or stress or other, means that your heart has to work harder. So if the coronary artery is partially blocked, then your myocardia, the heart muscle, doesn’t get enough blood, toxins build up in the tissue and you get angina. Kinda like a motor will not run well when you rev it if the gas line is blocked.

Childhood Angina

angina heart

Filed under: Angina Pectoris

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