Men Born Short Increased Risk of Attempting Suicide

newly born baby

A new study done by scientists from the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm found that male babies who are born short in height, are more prone to commit suicide than those born at normal height. Excerpts from Earthtimes.Org

The Swedish study involved 713,000 people of whom 320,000 were males. The researchers tracked the date of birth, attempted suicide if any, death or emigration from the country till the year 1999. The researchers used national registries in order to track down these men.

Surprisingly researchers found that shorter babies with a height of 47 cm or less were more likely to attempt suicide as adults. This statistic was independent of what height they eventually reached as adults. Furthermore men who were short of height as adults were also 56 percent more likely than their taller counterparts to attempt suicide.

Lead researcher Dr Ellenor Mittendorfer-Rutz opined that low levels of serotonin in the brain was the key to this behavior.