Heightened risk: Taller people more likely to develop AFib
(STUDY FINDS) -- PHILADELPHIA -- Generally speaking, there aren’t many drawbacks to being tall. People of higher stature never have to worry about peeking their head through the crowd at a concert, and they can always reach that elusive cereal box on the top shelf. Unfortunately, a new study has concluded that being tall may come with at least one medical disadvantage. Taller people are at a greater risk of developing arterial fibrillation (AFib), an irregular or rapid heartbeat.
AFib can lead to more serious problems like stroke and heart failure if left untreated. It’s a relatively common heart condition that impacts more than 33 million people all over the world.
According to researchers at the University of Pennsylvania Medical School, one’s risk of developing atrial fibrillation actually increases in accordance with their height. In comparison to people of average height (five feet, seven inches), an individual’s risk of AFib increases by 3%, regardless of other clinical risk factors, with each additional one-inch height increase.
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