The Health Risk Associated with Your Height
QHHL 
Sep 06 2018
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0 QHHL
Your height is a health risk factor that you can’t change. But it’s still important that you understand how it can influence your health and indicate potential problem areas.
When you perform a health assessment, you probably don’t often think about your height. This is something that stays the same throughout your adult life and isn’t easily changed. As a result, many people underestimate its use as a prognostic tool. Your height is strongly connected to a number of serious health concerns. Because of this, you need to be aware of how it can impact your health. This is particularly important when it comes to your long term health and wellbeing.
A lot of people these days suffer from atrial fibrillation (AF). AF is a condition in which the upper chambers of the heart beat out of coordination with the lower chambers. This can cause an irregular and sometimes too rapid heartrate. AF is a chronic and sometimes lifelong condition. It can be completely symptomless or it can cause fatigue, palpitation and breathlessness.
There is no clear cause for AF, though a number of things can bring it on. This includes the following problems and diseases:
AF is not technically dangerous on its own. However, it does put unneeded strain on your heart that can lead to more serious conditions. These conditions include heart attack, stroke, blood clots and other heart related diseases. AF is a clear sign that something is wrong, so if you experience this condition then you need to visit your doctor for advice.
Some recent studies have suggested that AF may be closely linked to your height. Researchers have found that there is a 35-65 percent higher risk of AF for every 10cm of height. This means that the taller you are, the more likely you are to suffer from this condition.
There isn’t a clear causational relationship between height and AF. That is, researchers aren’t sure if excess height can actually cause AF. After all, people reach their full height at around 20 years old, and AF usually comes on years later. But this doesn’t change the seriousness of this discovery, especially considering the rate at which the average height is increasing in the developed world.
Obviously you can’t change your height, but that doesn’t mean that this discovery is pointless. There are actually a lot of benefits to understanding this connection. Because your height is easily measured, it’s a simple and straightforward prognostic tool. You can use it to measure and understand your overall health risk.
So, if you’re tall, you have an increased risk of developing AF and associated disorders. And if you want to avoid these problems, you need to take action as soon as possible. This means that you should change your behavior to lower your overall health risk. You can do this by making yourself more aware of other factors that could threaten your heart health. Then you can work on eliminating or reducing them where possible.
Monitoring your heart is also incredibly important. As with most disorders, early diagnosis is key to a good outcome. This means that monitoring your heart should be a part of your regular health assessment activities. And the earlier you start the better. This is particularly true if your risk of developing AF is high because of your height and other factors that you can’t change. Regular monitoring will allow you to detect AF early and talk to your doctor about your issue. It will also allow you to track how often you experience AF and to take action if the rate increases.
You can’t change your height or any potential affects it has on your body. But you can use your understanding of these effects to safeguard your health in other ways. And this is the best way to enjoy good health and wellbeing over the long term.
If you’re concerned about a health risk factor, try using HomeLab to keep track of your condition and any preventative measures you take. And if you see signs of a significant problem, you should check with your doctor as soon as possible.
Tags: Health risk, height