Jealous of your long-legged peers? Turns out they may not have won the gene pool after all.
还在羡慕闺蜜秀美的长腿？新的研究表明长腿美眉们在这场基因战争中似乎并不是赢家。
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《肿瘤流行病学，生物标记与预防》杂志上的一项研究发现，在绝经后的女性群体中，身高与患肿瘤的风险存在着令人惊讶的相关性，具体来说，身高越高，女性患肿瘤的风险越大。
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.
这项研究为妇女健康倡议（WHI）的一部分，共有20900名50至79岁的女性参加了这项研究。妇女健康倡议由美国国家健康研究所发起，旨在分析绝经后女性和影响这些女性健康的因素。研究者将所有女性按身高分成五组，最矮的一组身高低于5英尺1英寸（约155cm），并按组对比他们患癌症的比例。
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.
结果他们发现，测试组身高增加10cm，女性患各种肿瘤的几率就增加13%。从患癌人群分析，研究者发现身材高的女性患黑素瘤、乳腺癌、卵巢癌、子宫内膜癌、结肠癌的几率要高出13%-17%。另外他们还发现，身材高的女性肾脏，直肠，甲状腺，和血液患肿瘤的风险要比身高矮的女性高23%-29%。所有种类的肿瘤都与身高成正比；没有任何一个高个女性比矮个女性患癌几率低。
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.
尽管这种联系看似奇怪，但是之前已经有类似的研究表明了相似的关联性：有可能是，在细胞层面上，由于身高高的人体内的细胞数和组织数也会比矮个多，因此高个体内细胞发育异常甚至变成恶性肿瘤的概率也会增高。此外，使身高增长而需要的细胞分裂和组织增长也会增加人患肿瘤的几率。