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With Great Stature Comes Great...er Cancer Risk

Research reveals a link between height and cancer risk, highlighting that taller individuals may face increased cancer likelihood.

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Bad news, tall people: Your extra inches are increasing your likelihood of developing cancer. And the taller you are, the worse it is. Here's what that means for you, your sunscreen use, and the Dutch.

A study in the UK followed almost 1.3 million women for about 9 years. The women were middle-aged and had not had cancer before. Over the following years, researchers kept track of which women developed cancers. They also sorted the women into groups by height. What emerged was a tidy correlation: Compared to a very short woman (under 5 foot 1), every extra 10 centimeters in height increases your overall cancer risk by about 16%. At 5 foot 5, your cancer risk is about 20% greater than the short woman. And if you're 5 foot 9 or taller, you have a 37% greater chance of developing cancer than your 5-foot-tall friend.

Your height isn't totally ...

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