United States: According to a new study, people with good height stand a higher chance of developing cancer.
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According to the World Cancer Research Fund, the evidence gathered hinted that taller people are more susceptible to cancer, such as ovary, prostate, pancreas, kidney, skin, breast, large bowel, and uterus.
The UK Million Women Study revealed that fifteen out of the seventeen cancers were investigated, and taller people were more prone to have them, wionews.com reported.
This study also revealed that every ten-centimetre increase in height also increased the risk of developing cancer by about sixteen percent.
By the same token, the scientists were able to also establish that poverty and ethnicity did not influence the results pertaining to height and cancer.
How does height relate to cancer?
Why are taller people more prone to cancer: one of the reasons is that they possess more cells.
For instance, a tall person has more large bowel – cells to develop small or many, which subsequently puts him/her at a higher risk of large bowel cancer.
Cancer comes about due to harm that accumulates in the genes that a cell acquires as it gets divided and makes new cells, suggests the researchers.
As the cell divides, it is more vulnerable to getting injured in a way that alters its genes, and the new cells that are produced as a result suffer from this as a consequence.
According to the results of the study, the more the amount of damage, the greater the likelihood of getting cancer.
More about the study’s findings
Some researchers have said that since tall people have more cells, these are what cause cancer and why men are more likely to get the disease as compared to women, wionews.com reported.
The other cause can, therefore, be attributed to a hormone called Insulin-Like Growth Factor 1 (IGF-1), which may be causing cancer.
This hormone is important in the growth of children and is very significant in stimulating the growth of cells and mitosis in adults.
The bodies have to procreate new cells when others are old or are in a state of disrepair. Still, they are a sitting duck when IGF-1 levels are above average; prostate or breast cancer becomes a likely possibility for them.