Short People Have No Reason…..Under 5’5″? You’re 50% More Likely to Get Dementia As reported in The Telegraph, short men are more likely to die from dementia than taller men, scientists have found, in the first ever study to link height with mental decline in old age. Researchers at the University of Edinburgh found that men who were 5ft 5 inches or shorter were 50 per cent more likely to develop, and die from dementia, that those who were 5ft 8 inches or taller. They warn that lifelong damage can take place while the body is growing which may not be apparent until much later in life and suggest that breakfast clubs, vaccination programmes and improved parenting schemes could help tackle the growing dementia timebomb. The huge study of nearly 220,000 people across Britain, found men who were 5ft 5inches or shorter were 50 per cent more likely to develop dementia that those who were 5ft 8 inches or shorter. The researchers speculate that women are less influenced by the effects of nutrition and stress in childhood. ‰ÛÏShort height in itself of course does not ‰Û÷cause‰Ûª dementia. Rather, height captures a number of early life factors, including early-life illness, adversity, poor nutrition, and psychosocial stress, and so allows us to examine the effect of these factors on dementia more closely,‰Û said co-author Dr David Batty, of the Department of Epidemiology & Public Health at University College London. The new study suggests that tackling childhood poverty and nutrition in early life could help stop the disease developing. Prof Tim Frayling, Professor of Human Genetics, University of Exeter Medical School, said: “The authors are not claiming that height directly alters risk of dementia. They are actually claiming something more subtle and less controversial. That is that height is a marker of early life factors which predict death from dementia. ‰ÛÏAnd people of generally better health and wealth are likely to have access to better healthcare and therefore their decline from dementia may be less steep.” So I am am 5′ 3 3/4″. My mom is 4′ 10″. I was not raised in poverty or subject to bad nutrition and other risk factors that would have caused me to grow taller. I am simply short because genetically I had no chance. So I think there is a balance here. So don’t jump to conclusions. Each situation is unique.