Talk:Gigantism
Andre the Giant
I know it sounds like an oxymoron, but should Andre the Giant really be on the list of giants? Although the WWF claimed he was 7 foot 5, he wasn't actually that tall. His article suggests that he was 6 foot 11, a fact which is supported by one of the photos on his page (look at his height next to the 6 foot Chief Strongbow). He certainly wasn't, nor was he ever claimed to be, the seven and a half feet that this article suggests is a reasonable limit to be termed a "giant", Enlightener 00:51, 11 August 2005 (UTC)
Andre the Giant lol you don't have to be over 7 feet to be considered a giant. I mean, a 6ft6 inch tall wrestler could be considered such when compared to an average 5ft9 man.
Now Pituitary giants are generally over 2 meters (6'6)and Andre may have been as tall as 7'1" when he was a young man. But by the late 80's and early 90's he was probably ~6'10".
Good Lord. If you ever stood next to the guy or shook his hand, you'd certainly refer to him as a giant. Nobody combined 6-11 - 7 ft, 400-500 lbs in as athetic a frame as Andre did. He was a miracle.
Andre the Giant is on the list because he has been diagnosed with Gigantism, Height isn't a extreme factor here.
Examples
Could the various conditions that lead to 'gigantism' each be illustrated with an example of a person who has or had such a condition - maybe people from the list at the bottom. For example, female basketballers Katie Feenstra and Lindsay Taylor are each 6'8", which would make them taller than Andre the Giant (going by some accounts of his height), yet they look different than he did; and Robert Pershing Wadlow looks different from Matthew McGrory or Sandy Allen. Various 'giants' obviously have different reasons for their great height, causes which can be apparent in their appearance. Katie Feenstra for instance clearly does not have any signs of acromegaly, while many shorter people do. I just thought it would be great if a more knowledgeable individual could add to the subject. - Matthew238 08:15, 26 December 2005 (UTC)
Wadlow and Allen both had acromegaly, which is the most common pathological cause of extreme tallness currently known. I have heard that Andre the Giant also had acromegaly but I have no idea what the other folks have or what they look like. alteripse 13:54, 26 December 2005 (UTC)
The article says that Gigantism is currently not a used medical term. This might be true for some doctors and modern physicians, who might instead call it "Hyper-pituitarism." But the vast ammount of scholars, historians, and even endocrinologists have always called the condition "Gigantism" or "Giantism." Though this term might be considered outdated and politically incorrect, the term seems rather fitting by reason of the great size and stature that can be attributed to the condition.
And according to dictionary.com, the first entry for "giant" is: 1. a. "A person or thing of great size."
And since gigantism is "The quality or state of being gigantic; abnormally large size (dictionary.com)," I believe the term is very fitting--though perhaps not a clinical medical term, it is an accurate word for describing those who have the condition or quality of being a [physical] giant.
List of Giants: Who do we include?
Is this list supposed to include only those who have acromegalic gigantism, or can it include those who are also geneticaly of equally height and size as those with the condition of Gigantism?
I see a number of non-pituitary giants in the list, and I see no reason to delete them unless it deviates from the article in which the condition of gigantism is the main topic.
Note: I deleted Anthony Robins from the list, only because he did not have the condition of gigantism or geneticly tall stature, and he seemed rather unrelated to the physical phenomenon presented in this article.
Prevalence of Gigantism
Does anyone know the prevalence of this rare disease? Is it like 1 per million? I read that Acromegaly is much more common, affecting 1 per 15,000.
Consequences/health effects of Gigantism
I don't know if it's an urban legend or a coincidnce or something that I have in my head, buy don't people with gigantism die earlier due to heart failure (it pumps too hard, hence, fatigued)? Jackpot Den 18:05, 27 August 2006 (UTC)