"Good Giant", "Ukrainian Gulliver" and the tallest man in the world

Giants taller than two meters struck the imagination in ancient times. Giant people became heroes of legends 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 backed up by undeniable evidence. Such data appeared in the XX century.

Robert Pershing Wadlow is the tallest man ever to have lived on the planet. He was born in the city of Alton (Illinois, USA) in 1918. Measurements made in June 1940 showed that the growth of Robert Wadlow was two meters seventy-two centimeters, the range of arms - 2 m 88 cm. The young man hung 223 kilograms. He was the owner of a huge hand, the length of which reached 32.4 centimeters. Growth of Robert from 4 years quickly increased because of a tumor of the pituitary gland and acromegaly. A giant boy after graduation studied law at the university.

At the age of 18 he traveled with the circus all over the country, later the public appearances of a good giant, as Robert's compatriots called it, became permanent. However, health problems were felt. At the end of his short life, Wadlow could not do without crutches because of the limited sensitivity of his legs. The tallest man did not live long, he died in a dream in July 1940. An infection that caused sepsis got into the wound wound with a crutch. The blood transfusion and the operation undertaken by the doctors turned out to be insufficient measures to save the life of the 22-year-old giant.

Today, the tallest man in the world is a Turkish citizen named Sultan Kosen, born in 1982. The growth of the Turkish farmer, recorded in the Guinness Book of Records, is two meters fifty-one centimeter. He is also the record holder for the length of the arms (275 cm), so the title "the world's tallest person" is not the only one owned by the giant. The measurement procedure took place in February 2011.

Sultan has a tumor of the pituitary gland, and he has to travel only with the help of crutches. The level of his hormones since 2010 is under the control of doctors from the University of Virginia. In March 2012, doctors confirmed that the course of therapy prescribed to Sultan Kyosen gave a positive result: the hormonal activity of the pituitary gland was normalized, and the constant growth was suspended.

"Ukrainian Gulliver" with an increase of two meters and fifty-three centimeters refused to challenge the palm tree in the nomination "the highest man". Leonid Stadnyuk, a resident of the village near Zhytomyr, explains his refusal to be in the zone of close attention of the press, and also because he was tired of the glory 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 cerebral hemispheres. Probably, during surgery, the pituitary gland was affected, which led to a violation of secretion and metabolism.

There are people who make incredible efforts to get into the Guinness Book of Records. The awarded titles of "the highest man" would be given much, so that their names did not appear on the list of record holders, because gigantism is not a sign of health, but an ailment that reduces life expectancy and brings suffering. In addition, patients with gigantism have a great risk of dying from intercurrent (complicating the course of the underlying disease) disease.