Some individuals have always been taller than the average person, potentially due to rare diseases or genetic factors combined with diet. One of the tallest people in history was Robert Wadlow, who stood at 2.72 meters before his death at the age of 22 in 1940, according to Guinness World Records. Wadlow’s large size was a result of a medical syndrome that exceeded the current average height of men in the US, which is 1.75 meters.
However, like most giant individuals, Wadlow’s large size was not solely due to genetics. Professor Márta Korbonits, an endocrinology professor at Queen Mary University of London, stated that most giant patients have growth hormone problems, such as elevated levels of growth hormone produced by the pituitary gland in the brain, often caused by a benign tumor. Modern medical advancements have made it less likely for someone to reach the extreme height of Wadlow due to the ability to remove tumors and stop excessive growth with medication.
Other conditions can also make people unusually tall, such as Marfan syndrome, a genetic disorder that can result in longer bone growth. Some individuals may have incredibly tall heights without any medical syndrome, like Bao Xishun, who was previously considered the tallest person in the world at 2.36 meters. Genetic variations and environmental factors like diet and lifestyle can influence a person’s height. Tall individuals are believed to have always existed, with one of the oldest cases of gigantism found in the remains of an ancient Egyptian pharaoh who stood at 1.87 meters tall.
Research conducted by Korbonits found that many tall Irish individuals had inherited a genetic mutation from a person who lived 2,500 years ago, suggesting a genetic component to tall stature. Genetics combined with environmental factors play a role in determining a person’s height; populations generally become taller over time as civilizations advance. Research shows that some remains from the Gravettian culture exhibit different heights and some stand out as exceptionally tall potential inspirations for legends of giants during their time around 29,000 years ago when they were hunting mammoths regularly reached heights modern industrial nations did not achieve until much later.
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