That kind of gigantism can still happen in places where pituitary treatment is out of reach for some reason. Yao Defen, the world’s tallest woman at 7’ 8", had an untreated pituitary tumor, for instance.
And possibly Michael Phelps.
Holy crap. Reading this ancient thread is like time traveling. I’ve been married to that “fiance” for 12 years now, and we have two kids. This thread reminds me we really should get genetic testing done to determine if they inherited the Marfans gene.
Oh, and braaaains.
Well, if we must have zombies, at least we can take advantage of the Information Age and point out that the tallest person alive today is Sultan Kosen of Turkey, 8’3" tall. He suffers from the same pituitary malfunction as Wadlow and has a distinctly similar appearance.
The condition can nowadays be corrected via surgery, which Kosen didn’t receive (I’m unsure why not) until he was 28 years old.
For those interested in Wadlow, there is a very nice park with a lifesize statue of him in Alton, Illinois (just across from St. Louis), with a little museum across the street. The museum has lots of pictures but few artifacts as Wadlow’s family threw out most of his clothes and effects after he died to deemphasize the freak show aspect of his life.
You can still talk to people at the museum who knew Wadlow when they were children, although this obviously will not be the case for much longer.