On 2015 Jun 03, thomas samaras commented:

A number of studies have shown shorter people have lower blood pressure, TG, insulin, and higher HDL. All these are related to lighter weight in addition to shorter height. In addition,lower mTOR and higher adiponectin are related to smaller body size and lower CHD/CVD. Thus, many biological parameters appear to favor shorter, lighter body builds in terms of lower risk for coronary artery disease.

See entry by Samaras below for an explanation of why shorter people do not have a genetic tendency toward CHD but actually are inherently protected from CHD. When compared to tall people of the same body proportions, the biological advantages of shorter, lighter bodies include lower blood pressure, lower BMI, lower left ventricular mass, longer telomeres due to lower attrition, higher sex hormone binding globulin, greater heart pumping efficiency,lower pulse wave velocity, lower DNA damage, and lower work load.

Several references that expand on the relation of smaller body size to lower CHD and greater longevity are given in my comment below.

On 2015 Apr 14, thomas samaras commented:

I have studied the relationship between height, chronic diseases, and longevity for almost 40 years. One of my papers appeared in the Indian Heart Journal (2013) that summarized worldwide findings showing shorter people have inherently lower heart disease. In 2014, I had a paper published in the Journal of Scientific Research & Reports that summarized key findings showing shorter people live longer. If tall people had inherently better hearts, then why do today's taller Americans have more coronary heart disease (CHD) compared to the early 1900s when we were a few inches shorter? Also women are shorter than men and have less CHD.

Studies from the 20th C found that many populations were free of CHD and stroke. Yet, these people ranged from less than 5 feet to about 5 feet, 4 inches. These populations included Solomon Islands, Papua New Guinea, Kalahari Bushmen and the Congo pygmies. I know of no modern population that is free of CHD.(Major food changes and increased height have occurred over the last few decades).

In 2007, The World Cancer Research Fund reported that until recently, CHD was rare. However, in parallel with industrial development, we have seen increases in height, weight and chronic disease (which includes CHD).

Of course, both tall and short people can reach advanced ages without CHD. Many other factors are involved, such as genetics, diet, exercise, smoking, weight in relation to height, income level, etc. I found that height represents about 10% of the total longevity picture.

Unfortunately, when it comes to human health and mortality, conflicting studies abound. However, confidence in a study's findings should be based on support from different types of studies (e.g., ecological, longitudinal, cross-sectional) that provide consistent results and include populations from different parts of the world and different ethnic groups.

I have reported scores of examples showing that non-Western shorter people have less CHD than taller Westerners. See www.humanbodysize.com for a listing of over 45 papers, book chapters and books expanding on what is discussed here. Some papers and a book related to height and CHD are listed below.

Samaras TT. Shorter height is related to lower cardiovascular disease risk—A narrative review. Indian Heart Journal 2013; 65: 66-71.

Samaras, TT. Is short height really a risk factor for coronary heart disease and stroke mortality? A review. Med Sci Monit 2004; 10(4): RA63-76.

Samaras TT. Evidence from eight different types of studies showing that smaller body size is related to greater longevity. Journal of Scientific Research & Reports 2014: 3 (16): 2150-2160, 2014; article no. JSRR.2014.16.003.

He Q, Morris BJ, Grove JS, Petrovitch H, Ross W, Masaki KH, et al. Shorter men live longer: Association of height with longevity and FOXO3 genotype in American men of Japanese ancestry. Plos ONE 9(5): e94385. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0094385

Samaras TT. Human Scaling and Body Mass Index. In: Samaras TT (ed): Human Body Size and the Laws of Scaling: Physiological Performance,Growth, Longevity and Ecological Ramifications. New York: Nova Science Pub; 2007: pp 17-32.

Bartke A. Healthy Aging: Is smaller better?-A mini-review. Gerontology 2012; 58: 337-43.

On 2015 Apr 14, thomas samaras commented:

I have studied the relationship between height, chronic diseases, and longevity for almost 40 years. One of my papers appeared in the Indian Heart Journal (2013) that summarized worldwide findings showing shorter people have inherently lower heart disease. In 2014, I had a paper published in the Journal of Scientific Research & Reports that summarized key findings showing shorter people live longer. If tall people had inherently better hearts, then why do today's taller Americans have more coronary heart disease (CHD) compared to the early 1900s when we were a few inches shorter? Also women are shorter than men and have less CHD.

Studies from the 20th C found that many populations were free of CHD and stroke. Yet, these people ranged from less than 5 feet to about 5 feet, 4 inches. These populations included Solomon Islands, Papua New Guinea, Kalahari Bushmen and the Congo pygmies. I know of no modern population that is free of CHD.(Major food changes and increased height have occurred over the last few decades).

In 2007, The World Cancer Research Fund reported that until recently, CHD was rare. However, in parallel with industrial development, we have seen increases in height, weight and chronic disease (which includes CHD).

Of course, both tall and short people can reach advanced ages without CHD. Many other factors are involved, such as genetics, diet, exercise, smoking, weight in relation to height, income level, etc. I found that height represents about 10% of the total longevity picture.

Unfortunately, when it comes to human health and mortality, conflicting studies abound. However, confidence in a study's findings should be based on support from different types of studies (e.g., ecological, longitudinal, cross-sectional) that provide consistent results and include populations from different parts of the world and different ethnic groups.

I have reported scores of examples showing that non-Western shorter people have less CHD than taller Westerners. See www.humanbodysize.com for a listing of over 45 papers, book chapters and books expanding on what is discussed here. Some papers and a book related to height and CHD are listed below.

Samaras TT. Shorter height is related to lower cardiovascular disease risk—A narrative review. Indian Heart Journal 2013; 65: 66-71.

Samaras, TT. Is short height really a risk factor for coronary heart disease and stroke mortality? A review. Med Sci Monit 2004; 10(4): RA63-76.

Samaras TT. Evidence from eight different types of studies showing that smaller body size is related to greater longevity. Journal of Scientific Research & Reports 2014: 3 (16): 2150-2160, 2014; article no. JSRR.2014.16.003.

He Q, Morris BJ, Grove JS, Petrovitch H, Ross W, Masaki KH, et al. Shorter men live longer: Association of height with longevity and FOXO3 genotype in American men of Japanese ancestry. Plos ONE 9(5): e94385. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0094385

Samaras TT. Human Scaling and Body Mass Index. In: Samaras TT (ed): Human Body Size and the Laws of Scaling: Physiological Performance,Growth, Longevity and Ecological Ramifications. New York: Nova Science Pub; 2007: pp 17-32.

Bartke A. Healthy Aging: Is smaller better?-A mini-review. Gerontology 2012; 58: 337-43.

On 2015 Jun 03, thomas samaras commented:

A number of studies have shown shorter people have lower blood pressure, TG, insulin, and higher HDL. All these are related to lighter weight in addition to shorter height. In addition,lower mTOR and higher adiponectin are related to smaller body size and lower CHD/CVD. Thus, many biological parameters appear to favor shorter, lighter body builds in terms of lower risk for coronary artery disease.

See entry by Samaras below for an explanation of why shorter people do not have a genetic tendency toward CHD but actually are inherently protected from CHD. When compared to tall people of the same body proportions, the biological advantages of shorter, lighter bodies include lower blood pressure, lower BMI, lower left ventricular mass, longer telomeres due to lower attrition, higher sex hormone binding globulin, greater heart pumping efficiency,lower pulse wave velocity, lower DNA damage, and lower work load.

Several references that expand on the relation of smaller body size to lower CHD and greater longevity are given in my comment below.