I was wondering what was the maximum height someone could be and still lead a long and healthy life.
Seems that no one over 8 foot in the old money (2.44 m) ever reached 60 years of age. They all had at least one glandular problem.
Zhang Juncai is 2.42 m tall, certified, and also has a glandular problem, and his great height was also caused by a glandular problem (a tumour on his pituitary gland), which has since been treated. He recently turned 60 and may end up being the tallest person to live to a ripe old age.
Alexander Sizonenko was 2.41 m, and also had a pituitary problem that drove the massive growth spurt, but he was fit enough as a young man to play basketball professionally. However he suffered various other height related ailments as his life wore on, and died at age 52.
The tallest people in history with no glandular problems are supposedly Angus Macaskill, and the young basketballer Olivier Rioux. The fact that their giantism is considered “non-pathological” in cause doesn’t equate to a long and healthy life, however: Angus died at age 38 of a “brain fever”, though I suppose it might have had nothing to do with his height as people died at the drop of the hat in the mid 19th century.
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Slightly off topic but while I was looking at some of the taller basketballer statistics, I noticed that the top-flight American ballers right now are not as tall as in days gone by.
The top five ranked players now are
Steph Curry 1.88 m
Jaled Brunson 1.88 m
Anthony Edwards 1.93 m
Cade Cunningham 1.98 m
Jayson Tatum 2.03 m
I am old enough to remember when the Dream Team was dominated by players in the 2.06 m to 2.16 m range.