We all know that being tall can have its advantages, but worrying new research has revealed that taller women may face a higher risk of developing cancer in later life.
The Irish Daily Mail reports that new research shows that a woman’s overall risk of cancer rises for every 10cm increase in height. This research is based on an intensive study of 90,000 women who were tracked for over 16 years.
The worrying thing is that the researchers identified ten cancers that seemed to have a strong link to a woman’s height. These cancers were: colorectal, colon, breast, endometrial, ovarian, kidney, thyroid, melanoma and leukaemia.
Every 10cm increase in a woman’s height carried with it an 11 per cent risk of post-menopausal breast cancer and a 51 per cent greater risk of developing melanoma, or skin cancer, in later life.
Do you rely on heels for extra height or are you naturally tall?
“The study provides strong support for a positive association of adult height with risk of certain cancers,” said one of the researchers from the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York.
It is believed that women who are taller than average have increased levels of inflammation in their bodies, which has been linked to DNA damage. This DNA damage can then turn cells cancerous over time if it is not monitored.
The average height for a woman is 5ft 5” – are you taller than average? Do you think there’s any truth in the above research?
