A connection has been found between limbs’ length and the risk for developing dementia, as noted in a study published in the May 6 edition of the journal Neurology, the medical publication of the American Academy of Neurology.

It is considered that men and women with shorter limbs are predisposed to dementia diseases. This conclusion is based on the fact that not developing long arm spans or knee height is a consequence of poor diet or inappropriate environment conditions in early years, with negative effects on an area of the brain most severely affected by Alzheimer’s disease.

"Body measures such as knee height and arm span are often used as biological indicators of early life deficits, such as a lack of nutrients," said Tina Huang of Tufts University in Boston, leading researcher of the investigation, as quoted by Reuters.

There were 2.798 white people with an average age of 72 involved in the research. They were analyzed for a period of five years by researchers from the Cardiovascular Health Cognition Study, Science Daily informs.

By the end of the study, 480 of the participants had already developed dementia.

The findings showed that every extra inch of a woman’s leg reduced the risk of sickening by 16%. As concerns women’s arms, the ones with shorter arm spans face a 50% higher risk of falling ill with dementia.

When it comes to men, only the arm span is relevant to the topic. The shorter their arms are, the higher the risk of becoming victims of Alzheimer’s disease. An inch more means a 6% decrease of the risk for them.

"Our findings are consistent with other studies that have been done in Korean populations, where shorter limb length was associated with greater risk of dementia," stated Huang in order to emphasize their research has a leg standing on relevant facts.