The Disadvantage of Height: Higher Risk of Cancer

Being tall has its advantages, but researchers say that taller people are at higher risk for developing cancer. A recent study led by Jane Green of Oxford University shows that the risk of cancer in women increases by about 16 percent for every four inches of increased height.

Green and her colleagues followed nearly 1.3 million women for an average of 9 years, considering height, 17 different cancer sites, and at least 10 other important factors such as socioeconomic status, age and smoking. Throughout the study, more than 97,000 cases of cancer were reported. Among those cases, 10 specified cancer sites—including colon cancer, breast cancer and leukemia—showed significant levels of increased risk based on height alone.

This wasn’t the first study focusing on height. Dr. Jaime Guevara-Aguirre of Quito, Ecuador found that people of “severely short stature” are less likely to develop cancer or diabetes during a twenty-two-year study of 99 Ecuadorian dwarfs. Throughout this study, only one woman got cancer. After treatment, it was later reported that she was cancer-free.

Other studies show higher risks for men also. Dr. Michael Blaise Cook suggests that several factors linked to height may be associated with risk of testicular cancer. After the analysis of thirteen previous studies, U.S. researchers found that every extra two inches in height raises the risk of testicular cancer by13 percent.

Despite these results, researchers are still unaware of the causes for the increased risk. Green suggests two possible factors: Taller people have more cells and higher levels of growth hormones that increase cell growth and their rate of division. These higher levels could possibly increase the risk of cell mutations that lead to cancer.

More research will be necessary to further confirm these studies. In the meantime, everyone should be much more concerned with lifestyle factors, including smoking, sun exposure and unsafe sex, which increase the risk of developing cancer.

In fact, reports from Green and her colleagues also confirm that current smokers from their study had even higher risks of developing cancer.

For all the tall people out there, evidence of increased risks is not yet concrete enough to worry too much about.

Share