The world is a harbour of contrasts. The rich and poor, old and young, man and woman, black and white, barren and fertile, success and failure, genius and moron, among others globetrot the earth space.
Humans are uniquely created but differently endowed. Coming to stature, the stout and slim square up for survival. Concerning height, tall and short persons co-exist in the globe. This is nature at work. No one bargains what to get or be. But at any divide, man or woman must bow to detect of nature. The giants and pigmies or Eskimos are all human beings. The difference lies in height. What a world of opposites!
Some weeks ago, internet was abuzz with the pictures of the tallest man and shortest woman in the world. Human beings like curiosity. Curiosity turns the duo to a big spectacle. What looks like disadvantage became a scene that many tourists and sight-seers paid fares to witness while others strained their necks to see the “reality show”.
The appearance of the World Tallest Man of the Guinness World Records was view to behold in faraway Egypt. He is Sultan Kösen. He hails from Turkey standing at a height of eight feet one inch (8ft.1 in).
In 2014, Kösen met the world’s shortest living man at the time, Chandra Bahadur Dangi, at an event in London to celebrate Guinness World Records Day.
Dangi, from Nepal, measured the same size as six stacked cans of baked beans standing at one foot seven inches tall.
As reported by The Telegraph, Kösen observed that “despite their height difference the pair faced similar problems saying: I love London and to be able to finally meet Chandra after all this time is amazing.
Even though he is short and I am tall, we have had similar struggles throughout our lives and when I look into Chandra’s eyes, I can see he’s a good man.”
Kösen remarked “It’s been a life-long dream to travel and become a Guinness World Records title holder has enabled me to do that.
I’m honoured to be in London, I’ve always wanted to visit and the fact I get to meet Sultan is special. It makes me extremely proud to represent Nepal all around the world, I’m extremely humbled by the support I receive.”
However, Dangi, who sadly passed away the following year.
Another contrasting figure was Jyoti Amge, from India, a holder of the record of Guinness World Records World’s Shortest Woman. Her standing is two feet tall.
Amge was born in Nagpur, Maharashtra in 1993 and was given the record just after her 18th birthday in 2011.
She currently works as an actress starring in American Horror Story and co-hosted a show called Lo Show Dei Record in 2012. Her height is a result of a form of dwarfism known as achondroplasia.
Both Amge and Kösen won their records back in 2011 which are still unbeaten.
In January this year, the Egyptian Tourism Promotion Board invited the pair to boost the hitherto vibrant tourism sector. The pair posed in front of the world famous Giza Pyramids in Cairo.
At the start of a tour in Egypt, the two world record holders visited Cairo’s most popular tourism sites and talked at a conference held in the Fairmont Nile City Hotel in the city.
Straightnews became curious about height defects and two medical doctors were ready to foot the bill. Why are some people taller or shorter than others? What are the causes of height defects among people? How can the height differentials be turned to ‘gold’ by the affected?
Nestor Udoh explains “Some of the height things may be genetic. You notice that parents who have children that are tall, they themselves are tall. The same thing happens with parents who are short. But some people may be short and have tall children. Ultimately, many of these height issues are genetic. It other words if your father is tall, you are most likely to be tall and vice versa.
Udoh who is medical doctor says “Height is not necessarily growth defect. Defect in growth may be as a result of malnutrition. If a child is not well fed, he may not grow well and end up being stunted. There are many other causes- like drugs. There are drugs that can cause genetic defects which may cause stunting in growth- some chemicals, radiations and so on.”
According to him, “As I have said, there is no hard and fast rule about this: the parents of those you have mentioned now may not have been the shortest or the tallest, but the child may inherit a recessive gene from the great grand father who probably was very tall or very short.
There are dominant and recessive genes. The dominant gene implies that you take directly from your parents while the recessive gene means that you can take from some other generation.”
He cites “I have recorded a case where the husband nearly sent away the wife because when their baby was born, it was very fair in complexion. He thought that the wife probably had slept with someone else but when it was traced, he discovered that in the third generation, they had albinos in that family.
The child now inherited that recessive gene from the third generation. It does not really mean that the parents of the tallest person in the world should have been tall or the parents of the shortest person in the world should have been short. The gene could have been inherited from anywhere.”
The medical expert traces “Some other causes that can make someone grow excessively may come into play. If someone has excess of growth hormones, the bones, legs and hands may grow excessively. That is what we call ‘Acromegaly’. On the other hand, if there is deficiency in growth hormones, of course, you become stunted.”
Udoh observes “If you limit radiation, it may cause what is known as mutagens. Feeding well and avoiding some of these drugs that are capable of causing genetic defects, you will be able to control this.
He sees the positive side to the height defects “Tourism thrives on hyperbole. Every human being is curious being. People are curious to see the abnormal. If you keep the tallest person in Uyo here and advertise, calling people to come and see him, before you know it, you will have a crowd. The same thing applies to the shortest person.
You can use such things to create tourism if the person is even willing. This can make money for the government and for themselves because people will pay to see them. The government will give them a certain percentage and keep the rest.”
Francis Udoikpong explains “Every part of the body- from my medical knowledge- is supposed to grow. As you are born, you are expected to keep on growing. Sometimes, there are aberrations for someone to grow more than it should be. But on the average, most people are within the height of six feet.
Udoikpong who is a medical doctor remarks “I think the issue of height- whether short or tall- is divine. Sometimes, the type of food you eat can expedite action for you to grow taller than what it should be. But that is abnormality. Heights should be within the range of five to six feet. If you grow up to eight feet, that is an abnormality. That is why graves are dug 6×6 because that is the range of height that is expected of a human being. When you go to buy a door, it is within six feet.”
He quips “I’m sure if someone within eight feet in height approaches you, you will be scared. I remember when the President Muhammadu Buhari gave awards to some army officers who did well. There was a particular man who was taller than the president who had to look up to greet man. The audience exploded in laughter.”
The medical guru, however, notes “On the other hand, let’s take Aki and Pawpaw in Nollywood as an example. They are stunted in height but possess the wisdom and knowledge of grown men. They have used their height to be useful to the society and to themselves.”
I have given you an example of Aki and Pawpaw. People with abnormal growth have brains like others. They have the ability to think and be useful to the society.”
Udoikpong identifies one of the causes of height defect “If a pregnant woman takes drugs, maybe in the form of herbs or conventional drugs which are not prescribed by a medical expert and the drug is contraindicated in pregnancy, the child is bound to have abnormal height.
Another cause of height defect could be genetic,” the medical expert further identifies.
Every society boasts of the tallest and the shortest. To some, the physique could be a minus and be turned to a vice. Yet, to others, it could be a blessing in disguise that could be turned to better the society. Turn every height defect to greater advantage as Kosen and Amge do in making themselves popular and generating huge revenue for themselves and their countries.
