Story highlights Height is a genetic risk factor for varicose veins, a study finds

Finding this genetic link may lead to better treatments

(CNN) In what researchers are calling "the largest genetic study ever performed" on varicose vein disease, a Stanford University School of Medicine study found a person's height to be a significant risk factor for developing varicose veins.

"We not only found an association between height and varicose veins, but the genetic studies we did showed a causal link," said cardiologist and study author Dr. Nicholas Leeper, an associate professor of surgery and cardiovascular medicine at Stanford. "That suggests that the genes and pathways that drive human height are also likely to be causing varicose veins."

Dr. Cheryl Hoffman, medical director for the UCLA Health-Manhattan Beach Interventional and Imaging Center, singled out "the strong genetic link."

"We know that varicose veins and venous disease are genetic, so it makes sense there might be something wrong with the vein walls that runs in families," said Hoffman, who was not involved in the research.

What are varicose veins?

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