Women’s Height Linked to Ovarian Cancer

Taller women have a slightly higher risk of ovarian cancer, according to a review of studies.

Obesity is also a risk factor among women who have never taken HRT, say international researchers.

Previous studies have suggested a link, but there has been conflicting evidence.

Women’s Height Linked to Ovarian Cancer

The latest research, published in the journal PLoS Medicine, analysed all worldwide data on the topic.

It looked at 47 epidemiological studies in 14 countries, including about 25,000 women with ovarian cancer and more than 80,000 women without ovarian cancer.

Lead researcher Prof Valerie Beral of the Oxford University Epidemiology Unit told the BBC: “By bringing together the worldwide evidence, it became clear that height is a risk factor.”

She said there was also a clear relationship between obesity and ovarian cancer in women who had never taken HRT.

Visit MedicsPro Doctors for thousands of Locum Doctor Jobs in the UK

“Ovarian cancer can clearly be added to the list [of cancers linked to obesity],” she added.

Sarah Williams, health information officer at Cancer Research UK, said the study produced a clearer picture of the factors that could affect a woman’s risk of developing ovarian cancer, and found that body size was important.

“Women can reduce their risk of this and many other diseases by keeping to a healthy weight,” she said.  For women trying to lose weight, the best method is to eat healthily, eat smaller amounts and be more physically active.”

Commenting on the study, Dr Paul Pharoah, reader in cancer epidemiology at the University of Cambridge, said the increase in risk was small.

“If we compare a woman who is 5ft tall with a woman who is 5ft 6in tall, there is a relative difference in ovarian cancer risk of 23%. But the absolute risk difference is small. The shorter woman will have a lifetime risk of about 16-in-a-1000 which increases to 20-in-a-1000 for the taller woman. A similar difference in absolute risk would be seen when comparing a slim woman with a body mass index of 20 to a slightly overweight woman with a body mass index of 30. ”

Source: BBC News UK

MedicsPro – Medical Recruitment Specialists

Fewer Premature Births after Smoking Ban in Scotland

Since Scotland introduced a ban on smoking in public places in 2006 there has been a 10% drop in the country’s premature birth rate, say researchers.

They believe this is a smoke-free benefit that can be chalked up alongside others, like reductions in heart disease and childhood asthma.

Fewer Premature Births after Smoking Ban in Scotland

Tobacco smoke has been linked to poor foetal growth and placenta problems. Plos Medicine analysed smoking and birth rates for all expectant women in Scotland before and after the ban.

It included data for more than 700,000 women spanning a period of about 14 years.

 

Significant change

Scotland was the first country in the UK to ban smoking in public places, followed by Wales, Northern Ireland and England in 2007.

After the legislation was introduced in Scotland, fewer mothers-to-be smoked – 19% compared with 25% before. At the same time there was a significant drop in the number of babies born prematurely or with low birthweight.

The investigators believe both are linked to the smoking ban, even though these rates started to go down some months before the ban was introduced and smoking incidence started to creep up again shortly after the ban.

Visit MedicsPro Doctors for thousands of Locum Doctor Jobs in the UK

They say there have not been any major changes in maternity care that would explain the findings.  Also, the reduction in premature births was both in non-smokers and women who continued to smoke when pregnant, which they say suggests passive smoke exposure is likely involved.

But while their work suggests a link, it is not proof that one thing necessarily causes another. As with all retrospective studies like this, it is impossible to rule out entirely all other factors that might have influenced the finding.

However, Dr Daniel Mackay and colleagues from the University of Glasgow say their findings “add to the growing evidence of the wide-ranging health benefits of smoke-free legislation” and “lend support” to the adoption of such legislation in countries where it does not currently exist.

Andy Cole, chief executive of the special care baby charity Bliss, said: “We welcome the findings of this new study, which highlights a reduction in the number of babies born early or with low birthweight in Scotland, where around 8,000 babies are born each year needing specialist hospital care.

“Bliss always recommends that women should not smoke during pregnancy and that they should lead a healthy lifestyle. However, it is important to remember that the reasons a baby can be born premature or underweight are complicated and that smoking is just one risk factor.”

According to the British Heart Foundation, there are more than nine million smokers in the UK, and smoking remains the UK’s biggest cause of avoidable early death.

It says the focus should now shift to the effect of smoking in the home and confined spaces, such as cars, especially where children are present.

A Scottish Government spokesman said: “We are continuing to build upon the achievements made to protect future generations from the devastating effects of smoking such as bans on cigarette vending machines and the displays in shops.  We are committed to ensuring a new comprehensive robust tobacco control strategy for Scotland is developed this year. This strategy will focus on prevention and cessation and include ambitious targets for reducing smoking across Scotland.”

Source: BBC News UK

MedicsPro – Medical Recruitment Specialists