Taller women are more likely to have twins, says a new study.
Taller women are more likely to have twins, says a new study.Gary Steinman, an obstetrician known for his research into multiple-birth pregnancies at the Long Island Jewish Medical Centre here, compared the heights of 129 women.
According to his study, 105 of them had given birth to twins and 24 to triplets, reported newswise wire.Steinman found that the multiple-birth mothers averaged 5 feet, 5 inches tall, over an inch taller than the US average for adult females of about 5 feet 3 inches.
The suspected culprit is the insulin-like growth factor, which has been positively linked to both height and twinning, the researcher said in the study that appeared in the Journal of Reproductive Medicine.
Insulin-like growth factor (IGF) is a protein that is released from the liver in response to the growth hormone. It increases the sensitivity of the ovaries to the follicle stimulating hormone, thereby increasing ovulation.
Previous studies have demonstrated that people who are short have significantly lower levels of IGF.
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