Recently the Imperial College London released interesting statistics about the height of nations over the past 100 years. The survey was carried out by 800 researchers who have found that the Dutch and Latvians are the tallest people on the globe. In the meantime however, Iranians and South Koreans have become by 16.5 and 20.2 cm taller respectively for a century and this is a record. How have Bulgarians placed in this chart and how important is it? We talked to Prof. Ivo Kremensky, national consultant at the National Genetic Laboratory at the Medical University in Sofia:

„This is the first survey to have covered 200 countries. Scientists argue that measuring human height is an easy job. It is also a very strong indicator about the development of a certain country and its population. There are two highlights in the survey: the genetic make-up - the age limit of a population and how this population has grown over the past 100 years. These are two different things. Human height is the more important indicator and it is an expression of lifestyle - not genetic - factors. They include diet, environment, social climate and the development of healthcare. More than 19 million persons have been surveyed. The analyses that will be made will point to weaknesses in healthcare systems in the long term. The first score of countries as per the fastest growth of human height features ten European countries. This suggests that the welfare state has developed quite well. In this curious chart Bulgarian women are ranked 30th worldwide in terms of height. They have remarkably moved to this position from the 83rd notch 100 years ago. Bulgarian men have moved from the 38th to the 30th notch. Bulgaria is among the first 30 countries seeing a marked increase in human height. The rate of growth mirrors the genetic characteristics. With taller people there is a lower risk of cardiovascular diseases but they have to stress the prophylaxis of colon cancer in men, and breast and ovarian cancer in women”, Prof. Kremensky explains. “As to the genetic make-up of Bulgarians and our health in general, it turns out we have an advantage - we tend to be strongly heterogeneous in genetic terms. Due to the country's geographic location in Europe, many migration flows have passed through these lands, and this has worked to reduce the incidence of the so-called rare genetic disorders. They are currently 7000.”

Prof. Ivo Kremensky also says that as early as 35 years ago Bulgaria had a National Program for Prophylaxis of Genetic Diseases and was among Europe's leaders in this regard. Today only some fragments of it have survived. For example, the National Health Insurance Fund (NHIF) pays for testing all newly born babies for the three most common genetic disorders. The Fund also pays for testing of pregnant women for chromosomal aberrations such as the Down's syndrome.  These tests are highly reliable.

 „Because we do not have a national program only 25,000 from 65-70,000 pregnant women are tested annually. This results from insufficient publicity about the service provided free of charge by the NHIF. Bulgaria needs 5-6 labs attached to university centers like our lab where high-quality and accessible genetic tests can be made. Now we have more than 30 labs that carry such tests without control. Mind you that whenever a mistake is made, the consequences could be tragic. The conclusion is that Bulgarian healthcare needs more regulatory measures. In my branch of medical science, awareness of the public is key. Another must is a central national genetic register accessible to anybody involved in healthcare. It is important to know who suffers from diseases and what the genetic characteristics of mutations are. Also there should be personal electronic files. In the recent years 15 new genetic diseases have been found plus 350 new mutations of conditions such as muscle dystrophy and atrophy, the Mediterranean beta-thalassemia and others', Prof. Ivo Kremensky concludes.

English Daniela Konstantinova