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(CNN) - Tall people may have a higher risk of developing cancer, but shorter people are not out of danger.
Lower people have a higher risk of developing type 2 diabetes, according to a study published Monday in the journal Diabetologia.
The researchers looked at more than 2,500 middle-aged men and women in Germany from a group of approximately 26,000 people. After adjusting for age, lifestyle, education and waist circumference, the researchers found that greater stature was associated with a lower risk of diabetes.
People of shorter stature are more likely to develop type 2 diabetes, according to a new study.
The team evaluated the height taking into account both the length of the body and the legs. The heights ranged from less than 5'6 ″ (169.7 cm) to more than 5'11 ”(180.3 cm) for men and less than 5'2 ″ (157.8 cm) to more than 5 ' 6 ″ (168.1 cm) for women.
It was found that, in both men and women, the risk of diabetes was less than 30% for each difference in height of three inches (10 cm).
Part of the association between higher height and lower risk of diabetes may come from associations between higher height and lower fat content in the liver and other risk factors for diabetes, such as blood lipids, Matthias Schulze said. , author of the study, in an email.
The study also argues that people of short stature should be monitored for diabetes and risk factors related to cardiovascular disease. Because liver fat contributes greatly to the increased risk in people of short stature, reducing liver fat can provide a way to reduce the risk of diabetes.
Gail Melkus, associate dean of research at the Rory Meyers College of Nursing at New York University and a diabetes researcher, described the study as "just a slice" of diabetes research. Melkus is not related to the study.
"I think the conclusions should be interpreted with caution because it is a secondary data analysis, which means that they did not obtain a group of people and followed them forward," he told CNN.
She said the study raises an interesting question: Should short stature be another risk factor for the detection of type 2 diabetes, along with family history or obesity? More research is needed to determine the answer.
Even so, he said that people of short stature should not automatically think that they are destined for diabetes, nor should tall people think that they are healthy and saved, especially because other risk factors apply to them.
"There is not a single risk factor to consider when evaluating people for any health condition," he said.
What is type 2 diabetes?
Type 2 diabetes is quite common. It affects approximately 1 in 10 Americans, according to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC).
This is how it works: we all produce insulin, a hormone generated by our pancreas that allows blood sugar to enter our cells to use as energy. But when your body does too much - pump insulin to bring all that glucose to the cells - cells can stop responding and become insulin resistant. That leaves too much blood sugar, which leads to high blood sugar and, you guessed, type 2 diabetes.
Type 1 diabetes, on the other hand, is a completely different problem. People with type 1 diabetes, an autoimmune disease, do not produce enough insulin and have to take it to survive.
Typical prevention methods for type 2 diabetes are increased physical activity, which helps make our bodies more sensitive to insulin, and weight loss. According to the CDC, avoiding high blood sugar and reducing stress also helps.
type 2 diabetes