What Your Height Says About Your Health

Believe it or not, our height can have an effect on our health. New research shows that being tall or short can increase or decrease our risk for certain diseases and even determine how long we will live. Did you know you start shrinking at age 40? Here's the astonishing findings we found based on our height and health. 

Being Tall and Your Health

It's good for your heart: According to a study in European Heart Journal, those under 5'3 had a higher risk of cardiovascular disease. However, being tall increases your risk of cancer, according to a study in the journal, Lancet Oncology. Women 5'8 and up had a 37% higher risk of developing cancer. Tall people may have more cells in their body, which increases the likelihood of mutations. There also may be a correlation between hormones and growth factors associated with height, that may influence cancer. 

Did you know you're tallest when you wake up in the morning? Our height fluctuates just like our weight. Discs in the spine get compressed from being upright all day. As you sleep, your spine decompresses, and you regain the lost length.

Another benefit is your mind will remain strong. Those who are 5'7 and up are about 50% less likely to die from dementia than those who are 5'1 and under. For tall women specifically, pregnancy likely won't be as tough. Pregnant women at a height of 5'6 were 18-59% less likely to develop gestational diabetes than those who were 5'2, according to a study at the City University of New York that analyzed over 220,000 pregnancies. 

Being Short and Your Health

On the contrary, being short leaves you less cancer prone. Melanoma, thyroid, kidney, breast, colon, and rectum cancers are associated with being most common among taller individuals. 

Also, those 5'2 or under and at a healthy weight have a decreased risk of blood clots. Blood must be pumped longer distances in taller people. 

Being short may be linked to longevity. Researchers at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine found that one of the genes linked to longevity is also responsible for short stature.