If you are a woman who possesses some, ahem, ample cleavage you might want to read the following.
The Irish Daily Star reports that a new US study has found that women who have big boobs are more likely to develop breast cancer. Disturbing, right?
The study of 16,000 women found that those with a larger than average bra size were at greater risk of developing the life-threatening disease.
“Preferences aside, it turns out breast size matters – but not quite in the way you think,” said Dr Nicholas Eriksson, the lead researcher in the study.
“Our research uncovered surprising connections between the genetics of breast size and the genetics of breast cancer,” he said.
Dr Eriksson is the head of 23andMe – a personal genetics company based in California. He based his shocking findings on answers provided to him by female participants in his study. Questions included asking women what bra cup size they wore, their medical history and comparing the answers with genetic data.
“While the topic of breast size raised a few eyebrows when we first put out the survey, this paper demonstrates important scientific insights can come from the most unlikely of places,” said Dr Eriksson.
“Although the connection between breast size and breast cancer aren’t fully understood, our findings give clues to the function of some of these genes that might be useful in combating breast cancer,” he added.
Well, what do you think? It’s a fairly depressing bit of research if you ask us. (If anyone needs me I’ll be in a dark corner somewhere, weeping into my 36DD bra…)
