Giants taller than two meters amazed the imagination in ancient times. Giant people became heroes of tales and myths. However, one can believe in the reality of the existence of individuals with enormous growth only on the basis of reliable data, evidence, supported by undeniable evidence. Such data appeared in the XX century.
Robert Pershing Wadlow is the
tallest man ever to live on the planet. He was born in Olton (Illinois, USA) in 1918. Measurements made in June 1940 showed that
Robert Wadlow's height was two meters seventy two centimeters, arm span - 2 m 88 cm. The young man weighed 223 kilograms. He was the owner of a huge hand, the length of which reached 32.4 centimeters. Robert's growth from 4 years of age increased rapidly due to a pituitary tumor and acromegaly. A young man, after graduating from high school, studied law at the university.
At the age of 18, he traveled with the circus throughout the country, later the public performances of the good giant, as compatriots called Robert, became permanent. However, health problems made themselves felt. At the end of his short life, Wadlow could not do without crutches due to the limited sensitivity of his legs. The tallest man did not live long, he died in his sleep in July 1940. An infection that caused sepsis got into a wound on a leg rubbed with a crutch. Blood transfusion and an operation undertaken by doctors proved to be insufficient measures to save the life of a 22-year-old giant.
To date, the tallest man in the world is a Turkish citizen named Sultan Kösen, born in 1982. The growth of the Turkish farmer, recorded in the
Guinness Book
of Records, is two meters fifty one centimeter. He is the record holder for the length of the range of arms (275 cm), so the title of "highest man in the world" is not the only one belonging to the giant. The measurement procedure took place in February 2011.
Sultan has a pituitary tumor, and he has to move only with the help of crutches. Since 2010, its hormone levels have been monitored by doctors from the University of Virginia. In March 2012, doctors confirmed that the course of therapy prescribed to Sultan Kösen gave a positive result: the hormonal activity of the pituitary was normalized, and the constant growth was stopped.
“Ukrainian Gulliver” with a height of two meters fifty three centimeters refused to challenge the palm in the nomination “tallest man”.
Leonid Stadnyuk, a resident of the village near Zhitomir, explains his refusal to be unwilling to be in the zone of close attention of the press, and also because he was tired of the fame that fell on him. At an accelerated pace, Leonid began to grow at the age of 14 after doctors removed a benign tumor in the hemispheres of the brain. Probably, during the surgery, the pituitary gland was affected, which led to impaired secretion and metabolism.
There are people who are making incredible efforts to get into the Guinness Book of Records. Those who were awarded the title “Highest Man” would give a lot so that their names would not appear on the record holders, because gigantism is not a sign of health, but an ailment that reduces life expectancy and causes suffering. In addition, patients with gigantism have a high risk of dying from intercurrent (complicating the course of the underlying disease) disease.