Taller people more likely to develop cancer, says Swedish study

Washington D.C: A new study has revealed that taller people are more likely to develop cancer.

In the study, Karolinska Institute and University of Stockholm researchers examined 5.5 million men and women in Sweden, born between 1938 and 1991 and with adult heights ranging between 100 cm and 225 cm.

They followed the group of individuals from 1958 or from the age of 20 until the end of 2011, and found that for every 10 cm of height, the risk of developing cancer increased by 18percent in women and 11percent in men.

In addition, taller women had a 20 percent greater risk of developing breast cancer, whilst the risk of developing melanoma increased by approximately 30 percent per 10 cm of height in both men and women.

Lead researcher Emelie Benyi of the Karolinska Institute said that it should be emphasised that their results reflected cancer incidence on a population level, adding as the cause of cancer was multifactorial, it was difficult to predict what impact their results had on cancer risk at the individual level.