According to research conducted by Medical school of Stanford University (Stanford University School of Medicine), the higher the growth, the greater the likelihood that you may develop varicose veins. Researchers studied the genes of more than 400,000 people to understand the causes of this common but still poorly understood disease.
The genes that determine human height, can underlie the link between high growth and varicose veins, and this understanding can be a key factor to treat this disease, says Nicholas lieper (Leeper Nicholas), doctor of medical Sciences from Stanford University.
The researchers also found 30 genes associated with varicose veins and its genetic correlation with deep vein thrombosis. The study is published in the journal Circulation.
Varicose veins are swollen, twisted veins visible under the skin, usually on the legs. In Russia signs of the disease are determined by almost 70% of women and approximately 50% of men. This disease is associated with more serious conditions, e.g. deep vein thrombosis.
According to the researchers, the disease is very common, but its biological causes very little is known as yet effective methods of prevention. It is usually treated with surgical procedures including laser treatment or vein removal.
The researchers used data from the British Biobank, which contains genomic data about half a million people, to search for risk factors of varicose veins. In addition, they examined genetic markers using genomic research on diseases 337 536 participants, of whom 5777 had varicose veins. The study confirmed that relatively often the disease is observed in older adults, women, overweight people, pregnant women and people with deep vein thrombosis.
The study also confirmed that surgical intervention in the area of the foot, heredity, reponame, Smoking and hormone therapy are also risk factors. The researchers were surprised to find also some correlation between high growth and varicose veins.
When the results showed that high growth is one of the risk factors, the researchers conducted additional tests to find out whether he is the real cause of the disease using Mendelian randomization analysis methodology statistical definitions of causality.
Our results suggest that high growth is a cause, not just correlation factor, namely the main mechanism leading to the development of varicose veins, says Eric Ingelsson (Erik Ingelsson), one of the authors of the study.
Dmitry Kolesnik