Who Is the World's Tallest Man?

 

Sultan Kösen is a Turkish man who holds the Guinness World Record for tallest living male at 251 centimetres (8 ft 2.82 in). Kösen's growth resulted from the condition acromegaly, caused by a tumour affecting his pituitary gland. Due to his condition, he uses crutches to walk. Born to a Kurdish family in the southeastern Turkey city Mardin, he is the seventh tallest man in history.


Records

1. On 25 August 2009, Kösen's standing height was recorded at 246.4 cm (8 ft 1 in) in his home country by Guinness World Records, overtaking former world record holder Bao Xishun who stands 236.1 cm (7 ft 8 15⁄16 in) tall. Kösen also holds the current Guinness record for the largest hands at 27.5 cm (10 7⁄8 in), and the second largest feet at 36.5 cm (14 3⁄8 in) (left foot) and 35.5 cm (14 in) (right foot).

2. On 25 August 2010, according to the University of Virginia, a height of upto 254.3 cm (8 ft 4 1⁄8 in) had been confirmed by doctors, who stated that this might be Kösen's actual height, artificially lowered by scoliosis and bad posture.

3. On 9 February 2011, Kösen was remeasured by Guinness World Records at 251 cm (8 ft 2 7⁄8 in). They also remeasured his hands at 28 cm (11 in), which broke his previous record.


SULTAN KOSEN Finally Stops Growing With Help From Va. Doctors

In May 2010, Kosen visited the University of Virginia Medical Center in Charlottesville to get help from an endocrinologist.

"His skeleton just can't support him," Kosen's endocrinologist, Dr. Mary Lee Vance a neurosurgeon at the hospital.

Accorrding to the NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF HEALTH, Agromegaly occurs in about 6 out of every 100,000 adults. Besides medication, doctors will try to surgically remove the tumor if possible, which usually corrects the abnormal hormone release.

"Treating someone 8 feet 3 inches tall is no different from treating someone 5 feet 10 inches tall," Dr. Vance says. "The important thing is to stop the production of the excess growth hormone."

Because Kosen's tumor had spread to areas of his brain, doctors didn't think they could safely operate. A neurosurgeon at UVA, Dr. Jason Sheehan, then performed a procedure called "Gamma Knife radiosurgery" in April 2010. The noninvasive procedure allows focused beams of radiation to Kosen's pituitary tumor. The doctors also put Kosen on a new medication that could stall hormone production.

Three months ago, UVA doctors got word from Kosen's Turkish doctors that he had stopped growing and producing excess growth hormone.

"I'm most pleased that we were able to help Sultan," Sheehan said in a statement. "If he had continued to grow, it would have been life-threatening."


Written by - Priya Mathur

Edited by - Prachi Raheja