Tall people more likely to get cancer

Research suggests that tall people are at greater cancer risk as the likelihood of developing the disease rises by 16 percent for every extra 10cm in height in both sexes, the Telegraph reported.

Dr. Jane Green and her colleagues, who published the finding in The Lancet Oncology, point to two reasons for such correlation.

“One possible reason is fairly obvious -- tall people have more cells so there is a great chance that one of them can mutate. But being tall is also related to hormonal growth factors which lead to a higher turnover of cells and this is an interesting possibility,” said Dr. Green

The study also suggests the average increase in the height of European adults by about 1cm per decade during the 20th century might explain the 15 percent of the rise in cancer cases over the same period.

However, tall people need not worry too much over these findings. Sara Horim, director of health information at Cancer Research U.K. said, “Most people are not a lot taller than average, and their height will only have a small effect on their individual cancer risk.”

Plus, while height is beyond a person’s control, they can alter their lifestyle choices to be healthy.



By Jung Eun-jung

(kristin2j@gmail.com)

Intern reporter

Edited by Rob York