EMS for the vertically challenged.

The relation between height and lower extremity peripheral insensate neuropathy among persons with and without diabetes was examined by use of the 1999-2002 US National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey with 5,229 subjects aged 40 or more years. A monofilament was used to determine whether any of three areas on each foot were insensate. Peripheral insensate neuropathy was defined as the presence of one or more insensate areas. Its prevalence was nearly twice as high among persons with diabetes (21.2%) as among those without diabetes (11.5%; p < 0.001). Men (16.2%) had 1.7 times the prevalence of peripheral insensate neuropathy as did women (9.4%), but the difference was not significant after adjustment for height. Greater height was associated with increased peripheral insensate neuropathy prevalence among persons with and without diabetes (p < 0.001). This association was characterized by a sharp increase in prevalence among persons who were taller than 175.5 cm. Peripheral insensate neuropathy risk was significantly higher among those taller than 175.5 cm (adjusted odds ratio = 2.3, 95% confidence interval: 1.5, 3.5). The authors conclude that body height is an important correlate of peripheral insensate neuropathy. This association largely accounts for the difference in peripheral insensate neuropathy prevalence between men and women. Height may help health-care providers to identify persons at high risk of peripheral insensate neuropathy.

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PubMed2006

Identification of distinct quantitative trait Loci affecting length or weight variability at birth in humans.

CONTEXT: The variability of human fetal growth is multifactorial. Twin and family studies demonstrate that genetic determinants influence normal fetal growth, but the responsible genetic polymorphisms are unknown. OBJECTIVE: The objective of the study was the mapping of quantitative trait loci (QTLs) for birth length and weight. DESIGN AND METHODS: To approach the genetic factors implicated in the normal variation of birth length and weight, we conducted a genome-wide approach of these two quantitative traits in 220 French Caucasian pedigrees (412 sibling pairs) using a variance components method. RESULTS: We observed evidence for several QTLs influencing birth length or birth weight independently. Whereas birth length and weight showed a close correlation (r = 0.76, P < 0.0001), their genetic variability appeared largely determined by distinct genomic loci. Birth length was influenced by two major QTLs located in 2p21 and 2q11 (LOD scores 2.69 and 3.57). The variability of birth weight was linked to another QTL on 7q35 (LOD score 3.1). Several other regions showed more modest evidence for linkage with LOD score values of 1-2 on chromosomes 7, 8, 10, 13, and 17 for birth length and chromosomes 1, 2, 6, 8, 10, 13, 14, 15, 17, and 20 for birth weight. CONCLUSION: These preliminary QTLs provide a first step toward the identification of the genomic variants involved in the variability of human fetal growth. Our results should, however, be considered preliminary until they are replicated in other studies.

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