Leukocyte Telomere Length Is Associated with Risk for Heart Disease

Telomeres are structures at the end of chromosomes that shorten with each cell division, and telomere length is a marker for biological aging. Because telomere length varies among different people of the same chronological age, investigators performed this meta-analysis to assess the association between leukocyte telomere length and risk for cardiovascular (CV) disease.

Researchers identified 12 retrospective and 12 prospective studies (44,000 participants overall) in which leukocyte telomere length and adverse CV-related or cerebrovascular-related outcomes were reported. Participants were divided into three groups by telomere length. Compared with people in the longest telomere group, those in the shortest telomere group had significantly h…