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Giants Among Us: Experts Reveal Why Some Humans Throughout History Have Reached Extreme Heights

Certain people who don't have any medical conditions and still grow to extreme heights could be because of genetic variants, experts say.
PUBLISHED JUL 31, 2024
Cover Image Source: YouTube/British Pathé
Cover Image Source: YouTube/British Pathé

Stories of giant humans have been around for thousands of years. Seemingly straight out of mythology, they actually exist because of medical conditions and lifestyle factors, experts share.

Giants are mentioned in the Bible and Greek mythology, and there are also examples of real-life counterparts, Live Science reported.

Representative Image Source: Pexels | Photo by ROMAN ODINTSOV
Representative Image Source: Pexels | Photo by ROMAN ODINTSOV

Experts have outright rejected the existence of bigfoot-like humans, Discover Magazine reported. No evidence has been found of hominins that grew taller than the average height of the present population.

Certain real-life counterparts have existed, that went beyond conventional heights, but experts did not discover any otherworldly reasoning for their situation. 

Robert Wadlow, born in 1918, is regarded as the tallest person on record, according to Guinness World Records. He had reached 8 feet, 11 inches (2.72 meters) by the age of 22 when he died.

Experts found that he suffered from an excess growth hormone problem that caused his massive height, Live Science reported. 



 

"The majority of [giant] patients have a growth hormone problem," Márta Korbonits, an endocrinology professor at Queen Mary University of London shared, Live Science reported. "That's what Robert Wadlow had." 

Korbontis added that in most cases gigantism is because of the elevated levels of growth hormone in a human's body, Live Science reported. Usually, the elevated hormones are caused by a benign tumor.

Nowadays physicians suggest surgery to get rid of the tumor and give medicines to control the growth, as gigantism can hurt a person's overall health. 

Apart from the growth hormone, medical conditions like Marfan syndrome, a genetic disorder that causes bones to grow longer, are also cited as the reasons behind gigantism, Korbonits explained, Live Science reported. 

Certain people who don't have any medical conditions and still grow to extreme heights could be because of genetic variants, Live Science reported. Bao Xishun who stands at 7 feet, 9 inches (2.36 m) does not have any medical condition in play, for his height. 

Doctors are yet to understand the reason behind Xishun's growth spurt, Reuters reported.

Gigantism has been around the world for centuries, Live Science reported. The oldest case of gigantism available with experts is of an ancient Egyptian pharaoh, who was around 6 feet, 1.6 inches (1.87 m).

Korbontis conducted her research on the topic of gigantism and found that many real-life Irish giants inherited a gene mutation from a person who lived 2,500 years ago.



 

"Since humanity has been around, we've had these diseases, so there's no reason you wouldn't have had these giants in Ancient Egypt or any other time of human history," Korbonits said, Live Science reported. 

Male skeletons found from the late phase of the mammoth-hunting Gravettian culture, from about 29,000 years ago, also exhibit extraordinary height, Live Science reported. The tallest of this group of skeletons measured around 6 feet, 5 inches (1.96 m). Experts believe that men of such elevation might have popularised the myth about giants. 

"Consider that at the time these skeletons were found, the standard for male height in Europe was under 170 cm [5 feet, 7 inches]!" Pavel Grasgruber, a researcher at Masaryk University in Brno, Czech Republic shared, Live Science reported. "No wonder these people must have seemed like 'giants' to the scientists of the time." Grasgruber associated the skeletons with the early Upper Paleolithic populations in France and the historical region of Moravia (modern-day Czech Republic).

Environmental factors and diet contribute to the general height of the population in a particular area, Live Science reported. As civilization advances the average height of civilians also often increases. Grasgruber believes that the reason behind individuals from early Upper Paleolithic populations being so tall was because of the food and conditions available to them.

"The reason for this good physical condition of early Upper Paleolithic hunters was the low population density and plenty of game in the form of mammoths and other large mammals," Grasgruber said, Live Science reported.

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