The "height factor" may give us different emotions. Those who lack it are more likely to get a feeling of deprivation while those who have it, are mostly expected to earn greater attention from people around them. Since time immemorial, tall statures have earned a high esteem from the society and we have come to learn the importance of being tall not only in our real life, but also from various references- historians describing some great leaders, mythologies describing Gods and Goddesses, school teachers narrating the stories of imaginary heroes and of course from the movies.
But a new study suggests that being tall may just be a punishment for you. A study conducted by researchers at the University of Oxford in England, has suggested that tall men and women have a higher probability to suffer from cancer in comparison to shorter folks.
It has been found that every four inch increase in stature will bring a 16 percent rise in the risk of ovarian, bowel, uterine and breast cancer in women. The researchers also mentioned that this risk had been found to be equal in case of both men and women.
Almost 1.3 million women in their middle ages took part in the study. They were made to undergo a routine breast screening exam and also to fill up a questionnaire which intended to extract data about their weight and height.
The women were divided into six height categories. It started with women with a height of five feet and one inch and then concluding with women with a height of five feet and nine inches and even more. In between, four more groups were included. The study period extended over nine years.
Taller women were found to have some positive qualities- high levels of physical activity and lesser degree of smoking. They were less obese, wealthier and had fewer children in comparison to their shorter counterparts. But despite this, taller women were found to stand at a greater risk of developing most cancers.
The definite cause is not yet known, but researchers have opined that high levels of growth hormone in taller individuals may be responsible for causing cancer. But till now, the researchers have not marked it as a cause and effect relationship. It is still a mystery.
