Short women are a bigger heart risk

Short women are at greater risk of heart disease, scientists have found.

They say there is a clear link between a woman's height and her chances of suffering a heart attack or angina.

The risk of developing heart disease falls by 20 per cent for every 2.5in increase in height and by 16 per cent for every 1.7in increase in leg length.

Although the research only involved women, its findings are thought to be equally applicable to men.

Dr Debbie Lawlor, who led the study at Bristol University, said a person's height is influenced by factors such as diet and exposure to smoking early in life.

'The association between leg length and heart disease suggests that these early life risk factors also cause heart disease,' she said.

Heart disease kills 124,000 Britons every year. It is responsible for 23 per cent of all premature deaths in men and 14 per cent in women.

Smoking and high cholesterol levels are already recognised risk factors.

For the latest study - published yesterday in the journal Heart - Dr Lawlor measured the height and leg length of more than 4,000 women aged between 60 and 79, including 700 with a history of heart disease. She found those with the disease were an average half an inch shorter.