Every list of the tallest humans I’ve ever seen included only people with some sort of pituitary gland disorder. I’m trying to find out the tallest person and tallest living person who grew to their respective heights based solely on genetics, not disease. All the internet searches I tried came up empty.
Yao Ming is 7 ft 6. Does he have a pituitary problem?
Angus MacAskill
He only lived into his 30s, so I suspect an undiagnosed problem. Diagnostic science has advanced a lot since the 19th century.
He died of a fever, though, so I’m not convinced by that. Given reports of his enormous strength, his not unreasonable BMI, and his normal-looking physique, he appears to have been a healthy and very large man. I have little doubt that there was a lot of HGH involved in his adolescent growth, but there must have been adequate production of the other necessary factors as well.
Incidentally, although Romanian boxer Gogea Mitu is said by Wikipedia (and apparently Guinness, at one time) to have been 7’11", boxing sources have him at 7’4" – anyone know about this guy? Looks to have been a pretty healthy guy, until he got tuberculosis.
I remember from my human genetics class in college that the upper limit was about seven feet, give or take an inch or two for environmental influences. That was back in '83, however.