On 26 Jul 2009 at 12:32, Julie Osland wrote: > > This is a really good illustration of the importance of not confusing > correlation and causation. Just because there is an association between > height and cancer does not mean that one causes the other. My betting > money would be that age is one of the key factors in explaining this > correlation. The likelihood of getting a number of different cancers > increases with age, and as age increases, so too does height.
Good suggestion, but not the answer here. The research Michael refers to is undoubtedly a new study by Sung et al in the American Journal of Epidemiology which looked at Koreans 40-60 years old. Sung, Y., et al. Height and Site-specific Cancer Risk: A Cohort Study of a Korean Adult Population Am. J. Epidemiol. 2009 170: 53-64; doi:10.1093/aje/kwp088 [Abstract available at http://aje.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/content/abstract/170/1/53] See also this news article http://tinyurl.com/mkaq6h This is apparently not a new finding as can be seen in this abstract from the British Medical Journal in 1998 http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/articlerender.fcgi?artid=1114238 where they speculate that dietary energy intake in childhood might be the common third factor which explains both increased height and risk of cancer. I assume they mean by this over-eating in childhood predisposes to both. But it's also possible, I suggest, that linked genes are responsible for both increased height and increased susceptibility to cancer. Or perhaps that much sought-after but rarely found gene-environment interaction is responsible for both. Leaves room for lotsa possibilities. Stephen ------------------------------------------------------- Stephen L. Black, Ph.D. Professor of Psychology, Emeritus Bishop's University e-mail: [email protected] 2600 College St. Sherbrooke QC J1M 1Z7 Canada Subscribe to discussion list (TIPS) for the teaching of psychology at http://flightline.highline.edu/sfrantz/tips/ ----------------------------------------------------------------------- --- To make changes to your subscription contact: Bill Southerly ([email protected])
