Health & Fitness

Why it’s always “Little” Old Ladies

Kristen Sparrow • August 01, 2011

I was dismayed to read the results of this study since I’m 5’10” tall, and my girls are both 5’9″. That would make us at a 30% higher cancer risk.

Risks: Women’s Cancer Risk Increases With Height, Study Finds
By NICHOLAS BAKALAR

The taller a woman is, the greater her risk for cancer, a large study has found.

Researchers at the University of Oxford in England analyzed data on more than 1.2 million British women followed for an average of 9.4 years. There were more than 97,000 cases of cancer among the women. The researchers found that for each four-inch increase in height over 5 feet 1 inch, the risk that a woman would develop cancer increased by about 16 percent.

On the other hand, we all have allergies, link here, so maybe we’re not doomed to die prematurely after all. (Studies suggest that people with allergies have an over active immune system, which is a nuisance resulting in hay fever, rashes and the like, but is protective against certain cancers.) Also on the positive side I also only gave the kids organic milk from very early on because I was worried about the hormones in the milk, and now growth hormone does look to be implicated. AND I try to keep my intake of animal protein to a minimum, and one of my daughters is a strict vegan, which should help also. I always wondered why the term was “little” old ladies, and assumed it was because of general shrinkage with the years, but maybe there’s more to it??