Monday, January 21, 2008

Height link to suicide attempts

Men are less likely to attempt suicide if they are tall, research has shown.

A study in the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health examined the suicide and death figures for 320,000 Swedish men born between 1973 and 1980.

It found that short babies - those less than 47cm in length at birth - were more likely to attempt suicide as adults, regardless of their eventual height.

Short birth length more than doubled the risk of violent suicide, defined as the use of guns or knives, jumping from a height or in front of vehicles, or drowning.

But short men who were born a normal length were also affected.

The study found they were 56% more likely to take their own lives than tall men.

The authors of the study suggested the brain chemical serotonin, which is crucial to brain development, could be the reason for their findings.

Low serotonin levels can trigger impulsive, aggressive and suicidal behaviour, and can be caused by premature birth and other factors affecting growth in the womb.

READ MORE @ THE PRESS ASSOCIATION