Tall people at greater risk of developing varicose veins, says study

Surgery on legs, family history, smoking and hormone therapy are also risk factors for varicose veins

Standing above the crowd puts people at greater risk of developing varicose veins, a large genetic study suggests.

Varicose veins are swollen, twisted veins that can be seen just under the surface of the skin, usually in the legs. More than 30 million people in the US have varicose veins. Although the condition is often dismissed as nothing more than a cosmetic nuisance, it can cause moderate pain and has been linked to the more serious side effect of deep vein thrombosis, or blood clots in the deep veins in the body.

For the current study, researchers analysed data on almost 500,000