Super whammied

Well I'm screwed...

The way a girl grows during adolescence, and even in the womb, may play a role in her risk of breast cancer later in life, a Danish study suggests.

The study of the health records of 117,000 women in Denmark found that those who were chubby at birth but tall and lean by age 14 were more likely to develop the disease.

Great. Just great.

The researchers found that the taller a girl was at 14, roughly the end of puberty, the higher her chance of later developing breast cancer. For example, a girl 5 feet 6 inches tall at age 14 had about a 50-per-cent higher risk of later developing breast cancer, compared with one who was just under 5 feet at 14.

At the age of 14, I was 5'11". So let me get this straight. Not only did I have to deal with all the crap of being tall in adolescence, but it's also going to bite me in the ass later in life? Greeeaaat.

Babies who weighed 8.8 pounds at birth had a 17-per-cent higher risk of later developing breast cancer than newborns who were only 5½ pounds. Each additional two pounds over 5½ boosted risk by 10 per cent.

What was my birth weight again? 8 pounds... yeah. Great.

The lower a girl's body mass index (a measure of weight relative to height) at age 14, the higher her risk of breast cancer, echoing findings about the risk in premenopausal women. The Danish researchers also found the younger a girl has her peak growth period, the higher her risk of later breast cancer.

Let's see. At 14 years of age I was 5'11" and I weighed 140 pounds, giving me a BMI of 19.5. A triple whammy.

I'm very, very bad at math, but if I am 5'6" at 14 it increases my chances by %50. Does that mean that 5'11" is %95? I was 3.5 pounds heavier than 5½, does that give me %15? I don't know what the numbers mean for sure, but it doesn't look good. Nope. Not good at all.

To all my tall and lithe in adolesence friends, we'd best do The Run for the Cure next year.

HRH