Mendelian randomisation analyses find pulmonary factors mediate the effect of height on coronary artery disease

There is evidence that lower height is associated with a higher risk of coronary artery disease (CAD) and increased risk of type 2 diabetes (T2D). It is not clear though whether these associations are causal, direct or mediated by other factors. Here we show that one standard deviation higher genetically determined height (~6.5 cm) is causally associated with a 16% decrease in CAD risk (OR = 0.84, 95% CI 0.80–0.87). This causal association remains after performing sensitivity analyses relaxing pleiotropy assumptions. The causal effect of height on