Taller adults are more likely to develop bowel cancer than shorter people, according to a recent study. American researchers found that the tallest people are at a 24 per cent higher risk from the disease than the shortest people. The team at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine say their findings add to existing evidence that taller people are at a higher risk from colorectal cancer or polyps that can later turn nasty.
Previous studies that probed the link have had inconsistent results, but those studies carried out inconsistent measurements of height and failed to assess the risk from adenomas, which are precancerous colon polyps. The study, which is the largest of its kind yet, suggests height is an overlooked risk factor for bowel cancer. The reasons for the link are unclear, but the researchers say it could be that the bigger your organs are, the higher the risk is.
Height is not as much of a risk factor for bowel cancer as age or genetics, but the researchers say it remains important and should be considered when doctors recommend patients for screening. For the study, the team analysed 47 major studies involving more than 280,000 bowel cancer cases and more than 14,000 cases of colorectal adenoma. They also included data from the Johns Hopkins Colon Biofilm study, which recruited 1,459 adult patients undergoing outpatient colonoscopies to explore the relationship between cancer and bacteria stuck to the walls of the colon, known as biofilm.
The definition of tall varies ar.
