Abstract
This study examined the relationship between body height and dementia and explored the impact of intelligence level, educational attainment, early life environment and familial factors. A total of 666,333 men, 70,608 brothers, and 7388 twin brothers born 1939-1959 and examined at the conscript board were followed in Danish nationwide registers (1969-2016). Cox regression models were applied to analyze the association between body height and dementia. Within-brothers and within-twin pair analyses were conducted to explore the role of shared familial factors including partly shared genetics. In total, 10,599 men were diagnosed with dementia. The association between one z-score difference in body height and dementia (HR: 0.90, 95% CI: 0.89;0.90) was inverse and weakened slightly after adjustment for intelligence test scores and educational level. The associations persisted in within-brother analysis and revealed a stronger, but less precise, point estimate than the cohort analysis of brothers. The twin analysis showed similar, but imprecise estimates.
Highlights
We examined whether body height in young adult men is associated with diagnosis of dementia while exploring whether intelligence test score, educational level, and underlying environmental and genetic factors shared by brothers explain the relationship
The pattern was less clear and the hazard ratios (HRs) were imprecisely estimated possible due to a lower number of individuals in these analyses (N = 7,388) (Table 3). In this nationwide cohort of Danish men born from 1939 through 1959, we detected that taller body height at the entry to adulthood was associated with lower risk of dementia diagnosis later in life
Within-brother analysis confirmed the findings of a relationship between taller body height and lower risk of dementia diagnosis, and even revealed a stronger, but less precise, point estimate of the association than the cohort analysis of brothers
Summary
2014) large scale high-quality longitudinal studies exploring the impact of early environmental factors and genetics to explain the link between body height and dementia are needed. (Borenstein et al, 2006; Wang et al, 2019; Russ et al, 2014) Previous studies question whether body height and dementia are solely linked by brain and cognitive reserve measured by intelligence and socioeconomic factors, or by shared underlying familial factors including genetics that may influence both body height and dementia. We examined whether body height in young adult men is associated with diagnosis of dementia while exploring whether intelligence test score, educational level, and underlying environmental and genetic factors shared by brothers explain the relationship
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