Adult height and the risk of cause-specific death and vascular morbidity in 1 million people: individual participant meta-analysis.

BACKGROUND: The extent to which adult height, a biomarker of the interplay of genetic endowment and early-life experiences, is related to riskof chronic diseases in adulthood is uncertain. METHODS: We calculated hazard ratios (HRs) for height, assessed in increments of 6.5 cm, using individual-participantdata on 174374 deaths or major non-fatal vascularoutcomes recorded among 1085949 peoplein 121 prospective studies. RESULTS: For peopleborn between 1900 and 1960, mean adult heightincreased 0.5-1cm with each successive decade of birth. After adjustment for age, sex, smoking and year of birth, HRs per 6.5 cm greater heightwere 0.97 (95% confidence interval: 0.96-0.99) for deathfrom any cause, 0.94 (0.93-0.96) for death from vascularcauses, 1.04 (1.03-1.06) for deathfrom cancer and 0.92 (0.90-0.94) for deathfrom other causes. Heightwas negatively associated with deathfrom coronary disease, stroke subtypes, heart failure, stomach and oral cancers, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, mental disorders, liver disease and external causes. In contrast, heightwas positively associated with deathfrom ruptured aortic aneurysm, pulmonary embolism, melanoma and cancers of the pancreas, endocrine and nervous systems, ovary, breast, prostate, colorectum, blood and lung. HRs per 6.5 cm greater heightranged from 1.26 (1.12-1.42) for riskof melanoma death to 0.84 (0.80-0.89) for risk of deathfrom chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. HRs were not appreciably altered after further adjustment for adiposity, blood pressure, lipids, inflammation biomarkers, diabetes mellitus, alcohol consumption or socio-economic indicators.