Clinical chemistry
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Observational Study
Short Telomere Length and Ischemic Heart Disease: Observational and Genetic Studies in 290 022 Individuals.
Short telomeres are associated with aging and have been associated with a high risk of ischemic heart disease in observational studies; however, the latter association could be due to residual confounding and/or reverse causation. We wanted to test the hypothesis that short telomeres are associated with high risk of ischemic heart disease using a Mendelian randomization approach free of reverse causation and of most confounding. ⋯ Shorter telomeres were associated with a higher risk of ischemic heart disease, both observationally and genetically.