Short Road to Heart Attacks

By Anastasia Toufexis

Good luck to anyone who tries to keep up with the research on heart disease. Rarely does a month go by without new revelations of environmental, physical and even psychological factors that are supposedly linked to an increased risk of heart attack. Among the suspected culprits: feeling hostile or stressed; drinking too much coffee; living with a smoker; being exposed to car exhaust; having high levels of the kidney protein renin; being bald; and having a body shape that puts excess weight around the belly rather than the hips and thighs.

Now researchers have added another item to the list: being short. Men who are 5 ft. 7 in. and under appear to be up to 70% more likely to have a heart attack than those who stand 6 ft. 1 in. and above, according to a report by Boston scientists at a meeting of the American Heart Association last week. The taller the man, the less the risk, they found. For every inch above 5 ft. 7 in., chances dropped by about 3%. The findings are drawn from an ongoing study at Brigham and Women's Hospital on the health of 20,000 male physicians. The results are similar to those from a previous study that found a higher risk of heart attacks in shorter women than in taller ones. Researchers speculate that smaller people have smaller coronary vessels that are more vulnerable to blockage.

How upset should anyone be by the entire jumble of findings concerning heart attacks? Not very. Yes, innumerable factors can influence cardiovascular disease, and many of them are hereditary and, taken by themselves, are beyond a person's control. But the bewildering research has not undermined the essential facts: by far the most important risk factors remain smoking, high cholesterol and high blood pressure. These can be offset by changes in diet and behavior.

Americans are still best advised to stop smoking, cut their consumption of foods high in cholesterol and fats, especially the saturated kind, and start exercising. "I wouldn't want to see an overweight, short, bald smoker with high cholesterol saying, 'Well, I'm short and bald. I guess I'll just have to accept that I'm at risk,' " says Dr. Charles Hennekens of Harvard Medical School, co-author of last week's report regarding the impact of height. "And a man who is 6 ft. 1 in. and smokes has a far greater risk of heart attack than someone who is short." All people, regardless of their height or other , factors, should be making the recommended life-style changes. When it comes to heart attacks, that's the long and short of it.

With reporting by Hannah Bloch/New York