Tall, and Female? You May Be at Higher Risk for Cancer
It's no joke. Scientists are discovering that post-menopausal women who are tall see their risk of cancer increase with their height. Tara Parker-Pope at the NYT writes," Among nearly 145,000 women between the ages of 50 and 79, researchers found that height was more strongly associated with cancer than such established risk factors as obesity." Don't panic if you're tall. It's not your height itself that's the risk factor. It's that height “should be thought of as a marker for one or more exposures that influence cancer risk, rather than a risk factor itself," according to Parker-Pope, referencing the new study authors. In other words, it's more about your hormones -- and what contributes to growth -- than height itself. " Cancer involves the uncontrolled division of abnormal cells in processes having to do with growth, so it follows that hormones or other growth factors that influence height may also influence cancer risk, Geo...