Height and testicular cancer: NBA players to watch out
Recently a study was conducted regarding the fact that height might have something to do with the likelihood of getting testicular cancer. This specific type of cancer is caused by many other factors but a study conducted in 2008 also found similar results.
So since some of the world’s tallest men are playing basketball, should they be worried about the disease. Well the answer to this question needs further analysis and needs to be looked at in light of the known causes of the disease.
Testicular cancer is a type of cancer that only affects men, particularly their testicles. It can be very painful and about 1 in 250 men suffer from it every year. It is one of the few cancers which have a very high rate of cure if chemotherapy is used or
the t******e is removed. Some studies have shown that this cancer has a cure rate of 90% if treated properly.
There are several causes to testicular cancer and as environmental degradation has increased over the years, incidences of the cancer seem to be increasing. Causes range from smoking, family history, genetics, chemical intake, age, race, living an unhealthy
life, having surgery on the testicles, genital abnormalities and even height. It seems a person is 6 times more likely to get the cancer if his father had it or 8 to 10 times more likely if his brother had it. A person is also more likely to get the disease
between the ages of 20 and 44, almost 90% of all testicular cancer patients are under the age of 55. An interesting factor is that the cancer seems to be more prevalent among white men more than any other ethnic group.
The factor from the above mentioned list that we want to look at is the relationship between height and the cancer and if basketball players should be worried. A study carried out in 2008 found that the taller a man was, the more likely he was to develop
the disease. This has also been backed up a recent American study into the relationship between height and the cancer. The older study and the new data both found that if a man is between 6 foot 1 inches and 6 foot 3 inches tall, then he is twice as likely
to develop the cancer. The studies also found that a man is three times more likely to get the cancer if he is 6 foot 4 inches or taller. Men of average height are not as affected as taller men.
The study tried to look deeper into the issue and examined the suspected causes of why height and the cancer were related. They found that as a taller child grows, he consumes more calories than a regular child, just to sustain the growth spurt in progress.
They said the study seemed to reveal the link between a higher calorie diet as a child grows to the incidences of getting the cancer. Even though this is not a conclusive argument, it is just one of the possibilities given by the researchers of the study for
the possible link of height and testicular cancer.
The interesting thing here is that if height is a large factor into getting the cancer, would that mean that basketball players were more susceptible to the disease. Basketball players on average are some of the tallest athletes around and there are a large
number of them in the same field, so if a link was to be found between height and the cancer it should show up in this particular sport. Well that does not seem to be the case. A list of basketball players who have died, shows only a few cases of cancer and
none of testicular cancer. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar recently revealed that he had cancer but it was a rare form of blood cancer and not testicular cancer. The only famous athlete in recent memory to get the disease was Lance Armstrong and he is of average height
and a cyclist by profession.
Why is there no link between basketball players and testicular cancer then? Well, one of the factors could be race. A large proportion of those that get the disease are white men and if we look at the NBA in particular, most of the players are black men.
That could be one reason if the link between height and the cancer was genuine.
It seems for the moment, basketball players do not have to worry too much about getting testicular cancer and they can continue playing the game they love but they should still get tested early on for it.
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