Where your DNA places you among other people, and the studies behind it.
Not tailored to your result, and not medical advice
Manage Weight and Avoid Smoking: A Mendelian randomization study combining UK Biobank and FinnGen data (about 22,700 varicose vein cases) found that genetically predicted higher body mass index was associated with varicose veins, with an odds ratio of 1.39 per standard deviation increase in BMI. The same analysis linked smoking initiation to a smaller increase, odds ratio 1.12, and the authors point to venous endothelial injury and smoking-activated inflammation as the proposed route for tobacco. Because these estimates use inherited variants rather than measured behavior, they are less vulnerable to reverse causation than ordinary observational data, though they still rest on assumptions. Body weight and tobacco are the two everyday habits on that list; the same analysis also flagged height, which nobody chooses. Journal of the American Heart Association (PMC)
Limit Long Periods of Standing: A systematic review of 37 studies on work conditions and lower limb vascular disease, 21 of them on varicose veins, found that prolonged standing was significantly associated with a higher risk of varicose veins, with a threshold probably around more than 3 to 4 hours a day. The review also flagged heavy load carrying, workplace heat and work stress as possible contributors, but treated that evidence as recent and in need of better exploration. The authors note that exposure duration in years was not sufficiently considered across the literature, so the size of any cumulative effect over a working life is uncertain. Where a job involves long static standing, shifting position and walking about periodically is the part that sits within a person's control. Occupational and Environmental Medicine (PubMed)
Keep Your Calf Muscles Working: Walking contracts the calf muscles, which compresses the deep leg veins and helps push blood back toward the heart against gravity. In a Cochrane review of physical exercise for non-ulcerated chronic venous insufficiency, a structured exercise program increased calf pump ejection fraction by 4.88% and lengthened total venous refilling time by about 9.4 seconds compared with controls, both signs of better venous emptying. That review included only two small trials with 54 participants in total, judged both at high risk of bias, and rated the overall certainty as very low by GRADE. Regular walking is low risk and plausible on mechanism, but it has not been shown to prevent varicose veins from forming. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews (PMC)
Get Persistent Leg Symptoms Checked: Varicose veins often cause no trouble at all, but the NHS advises seeing a GP when they come with pain, itching or swelling in the legs. A sore on the leg that has not healed after two weeks is a reason to be seen, and a varicose vein that starts bleeding needs urgent care. The self-care measures the NHS lists include keeping to a healthy weight, exercising regularly to improve blood flow, resting with the legs raised on cushions, moisturising dry or itchy skin, and avoiding long periods of standing or of sitting without the feet raised. Raising a symptom with a clinician is a conversation, not a decision anyone has to reach alone. NHS
Know What Lifestyle Cannot Change: In a prospective study of roughly 500,000 UK Biobank participants, age, female sex, obesity, pregnancy and a history of deep vein thrombosis were confirmed as risk factors, and greater height emerged as a new one, with a hazard ratio of 1.74 comparing the tallest quartile with the shortest. Mendelian randomization in the same study indicated that height is causally related to varicose veins, with an odds ratio of 1.26. The authors identified 30 genetic loci, with pathway analysis pointing to vascular development and limb development, and estimated that heritability accounts for about 28% of the population variance in varicose vein disease. A meaningful share of risk is therefore structural and inherited rather than behavioral, which is worth holding in mind when reading prevention advice of any kind. Circulation (PMC)
How much of this is genetic?
Genetics explains 25% of why people differ in this trait. The rest is environment, daily habits and chance.
Heritability estimate: Family and twin studies (Fiebig et al. 2010, narrow-sense heritability ~17%) and UK Biobank GWAS (Fukaya et al. 2018, ~28% on the liability scale)
Background and further reading
Varicose veins are enlarged, dilated, and often visibly twisted veins that most commonly appear in the legs. They develop when the one-way valves inside veins fail and the vein walls weaken, allowing blood to pool rather than return efficiently to the heart, a process known as chronic venous reflux. They are extremely common, affecting roughly a quarter to a third of adults in Western populations, and prevalence rises steeply with age. Many people have only cosmetic concerns, while others experience aching, heaviness, swelling, itching, or night cramps, and a minority progress to skin changes or venous ulcers. Varicose veins sit on the milder end of the broader spectrum of chronic venous disease.
Genetic Basis: Family history is one of the strongest and most consistent predictors of varicose veins, and large studies confirm a substantial inherited component. Genome-wide association studies in the UK Biobank and other cohorts have identified dozens of associated loci. Among the most robust signals are CASZ1, PIEZO1, PPP3R1, EBF1, and EFEMP1. PIEZO1 encodes a mechanosensitive ion channel that lets vein cells sense blood-flow shear and pressure, EFEMP1 encodes a connective-tissue protein that shapes the vein wall, and genes such as FOXC2 are involved in the development of venous valves, pointing to valve integrity and vein-wall remodeling as core biological themes. Because the trait is highly polygenic, this score aggregates the small contributions of many common variants rather than any single decisive gene.
Environmental and Lifestyle Factors: Genetics sets a baseline, but many non-genetic factors strongly influence whether varicose veins develop and how severe they become. Increasing age, female sex, pregnancy (through hormonal changes and increased pelvic and leg vein pressure), and higher body weight all raise the likelihood. Prolonged standing or sitting, occupations that keep you upright for long hours, and a sedentary routine that reduces the calf-muscle pumping action can also contribute. Staying physically active, maintaining a healthy weight, elevating the legs, and avoiding long uninterrupted periods of standing can help support healthy leg-vein circulation.
The published research behind your score, and the variants it draws on.
6 published scores from 3 studies
The varicose veins score combines 6 polygenic scores drawn from 3 published studies.
Fukaya E, et al. Clinical and Genetic Determinants of Varicose Veins. Circulation (2018)
Fiebig A, et al. Heritability of chronic venous disease. Human Genetics (2010)
These traits are influenced by some of the same genes and variants as this one
Venous Thromboembolism: Blood clots that form in the deep veins and can travel to the lungs.
Lean Body Mass: The fat-free portion of your body: mostly muscle, bone, organs, and water.
Content updated August 2026.
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