More skin infection, less heart disease: study reveals how being tall affects health

Study of 250,000 people sought to remove confounding factors such as socioeconomic status

Taller people have an increased risk of peripheral neuropathy, as well as skin and bone infections, but a lower risk of heart disease, high blood pressure and high cholesterol, according to the world's largest study of height and disease.

A person's height raises and reduces their risk of a variety of diseases, according to the research led by Sridharan Raghavan of the Rocky Mountain Regional VA Medical Center in the US. The findings are published in the journal PLOS Genetics.