健康指南:腿長未必好事 癌症如影隨形(1)

JeAlous of your long-legged peers? Turns out they may not have won the gene pool after all.

還在羨慕閨蜜秀美的長腿？新的研究表明長腿美眉們在這場基因戰爭中似乎並不是贏家。

New research published in the journal Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention found a surprising correlation between height and cancer risk among postmenopausal women; the taller the woman, the greater her risk for the disease.

最新刊登在《腫瘤流行病學，生物標記與預防》雜誌上的一項研究發現，在絕經後的女性羣體中，身高與患腫瘤的風險存在着令人驚訝的相關性，具體來說，身高越高，女性患腫瘤的風險越大。

The researchers studied more than 20,900 women ages 50 to 79 who participated in the Women’s Health Initiative (WHI) study, an on-going analysis of post menopausal women and the factors that contribute to their health. They separated the women into five groups based on their height, starting with women shorter than 5 feet 1 inch, and matched them to data on their cancer rates.

這項研究爲婦女健康倡議（WHI）的一部分，共有20900名50至79歲的女性參加了這項研究。婦女健康倡議由美國國家健康研究所發起，旨在分析絕經後女性和影響這些女性健康的因素。研究者將所有女性按身高分成五組，最矮的一組身高低於5英尺1英寸（約155cm），並按組對比他們患癌症的比例。

They discovered that for every 10 centimeters of height, a woman’s risk of developing a range of different cancers increased by 13%. When they looked at all the cancers together, they found that taller women had a 13% to 17% greater risk of developing melanoma, breast cancer, ovarian cancer, endometrial cancer and colon cancer. They also had a 23% to 29% greater risk of developing kidney, rectum, thyroid and blood cancers. All of the cancers showed a positive association with height; none of the taller women showed a lower risk of cancer compared to their shorter counterparts.

結果他們發現，測試組身高增加10cm，女性患各種腫瘤的機率就增加13%。從患癌人羣分析，研究者發現身材高的女性患黑素瘤、乳腺癌、卵巢癌、子宮內膜癌、結腸癌的機率要高出13%-17%。另外他們還發現，身材高的女性腎臟，直腸，甲狀腺，和血液患腫瘤的風險要比身高矮的女性高23%-29%。所有種類的腫瘤都與身高成正比；沒有任何一個高個女性比矮個女性患癌機率低。

While the connection seems odd, previous studies have exposed the same association; it’s possible, for example, that on the most basic level, the greater number of cells and tissues that taller people possess simply increases the odds that some of those cells will develop abnormally and become malignant. Alternatively, some of the same processes that fuel the growth that contributes to height may also feed tumors.

儘管這種聯繫看似奇怪，但是之前已經有類似的研究表明了相似的關聯性：有可能是，在細胞層面上，由於身高高的人體內的細胞數和組織數也會比矮個多，因此高個體內細胞發育異常甚至變成惡性腫瘤的概率也會增高。此外，使身高增長而需要的細胞分裂和組織增長也會增加人患腫瘤的機率。