Shorter Stature Linked to Heightened Dementia Risk


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Shorter Stature Linked to Heightened Dementia Risk

The risk for dementia-related death is increased in individuals of short physical stature, suggesting that early life circumstances may influence later dementia risk.

A meta-analysis conducted by Tom Russ, MD, PhD, Alzheimer Scotland Dementia Research Centre, University of Edinburgh, United Kingdom, and colleagues showed that dementia-related risk was increased in a dose-dependent fashion relative to decreasing height, with the effect more pronounced in men than women.

“There is good evidence that maximal adult height is linked to a number of early life experiences, including illness, adversity, nutrition, psychosocial stressand it’s quite plausible that these might affect dementia risk,” Dr Russ said.

“We have been searching for a proxy for something which might capture some of these early life experiences but be feasible to link to dementia, and adult height seems to be quite a useful factor,” he added.

Noting the sex difference, Dr Russ told Medscape Medical News: “It does fit with some other findings which suggest that boys are more sensitive to early experiences than girls.”

“So the fact that the association is greater in men than women fits with this possibility, given our inference that early life factors are driving the association.”

The study was published in the November issue of the British Journal of Psychiatry.

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