Women who shrink as they age are at a greater risk of dying.
Woman
A new study has found that each centimetre of height lost can be linked to an increase of up to 21 per cent in their risk of death within two decades.
The researchers suggested that GPs should measure the heights of their female patients as a marker of their risk of premature death, particularly from strokes or heart attacks.
The study sampled 2,400 women from Sweden and Denmark, whose height was measured between the ages of 30 and 60 and again between ten and 13 years later.
Researchers found that the Danish females had greater odds of an early death when compared with their Swedish counterparts.
The experts also advised that taking more exercise could help prevent height loss, which is usually caused by vertebral disc shrinkage and changes in posture.