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Tall Women Beware

Extra inches may mean a higher chance of getting ovarian cancer.

Written byEdyta Zielinska
| 1 min read

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FLICKR, KATHLEEN ZARUBIN

According to a new meta-analysis of previous studies, taller women have a slightly higher risk of getting ovarian cancer than shorter women, reported BBC News. The study, published Tuesday (April 3) in PLoS Medicine, supports the conclusions of similar analyses that suggest taller women may be at a higher risk of a variety of cancer types. The new study analyzed data from over 25,000 women across 14 countries and saw an increased frequency of the disease in taller women, as well as those with a larger body-mass index.

"By bringing together the worldwide evidence, it became clear that height is a risk factor," lead researcher Valerie Beral of Oxford University told the BBC. Although the increase is significant, “the absolute risk difference is small. The ...

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Meet the Author

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    Edyta Zielinska was a senior editor at The Scientist from 2007 to 2013, where she worked closely with scientific illustrators to develop accompanying graphics to illuminate complex concepts. 

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