https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/JZWhaQNde8L2vc6E6mht_A
来自英文巴士
00:1702:52
NB: This may not be a word-for-word transcript.
What Would Happen If You Never Stopped Growing?
Hey there! Welcome to Life Noggin!
Whenever I need to become super tall to change a lightbulb or reach that jar of cookies, I just snap my fingers. My animator does a little magic and voila, ME BLOCKO! BLOCKO SMASH! And see, now I’m back to normal!
But, you humans are a bit different. You tend to grow to a certain height and then just stop. But what if we could change that? What would happen if we never stopped growing?
Throughout history, there have already been some incredibly tall people. The official world record for the tallest man belongs to Robert Wadlow, who towered over his friends at a height of 2.72 meters tall. That’s pretty impressive!
So, what are some ways that a person can get really tall?
Well, one condition that already makes some of my human friends grow a little more than average is called gigantism. Gigantism is a rare and serious condition that can cause people to grow in height and body stature. It may also cause their muscles and organs to grow in size as well.
While we typically think of grown adults when we think of gigantism, it’s actually a condition that starts much earlier. Gigantism occurs in patients that have excessive growth hormone in their bodies during childhood. It’s most commonly caused by a benign tumor of the pituitary gland.
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A few years ago, the National Institutes of Health came out with an interesting study that found a link between gigantism and a region of the X chromosome. The researchers believe that a single gene within that region likely plays a big role in how much people grow. If that’s true, finding a way to manipulate the gene could potentially lead us to being able to control how big people can get!
Not everyone has an animator to help them out for a pickup game of basketball. Let me just slam dunk that, and yes, that is how I beat Shaq.
They also have some serious health concerns that would likely affect anyone who was growing without limits. You see, people with gigantism tend to be at a higher risk for certain complications such as high blood pressure and heart disease. They also often develop arthritis, vision problems, and have a delayed onset of puberty.
Just being taller, be it through gigantism or not, may also put you at a higher risk for cancer. A recent Swedish study looking at 5.5 million people found that for every 10 centimeters taller a person was, their risk of developing cancer increased by 18% for women and 11% for men.
And growing taller wouldn’t be the only issue. There are also negatives with people growing horizontally. Adding on weight, especially if it’s fat, adds some unwanted pressure to your body. One pound might not seem like a lot, but moving it around all day can put your joints through a good amount of stress. It’s been found that a one-pound weight loss can equal a 4-pound reduction in knee joint stress. Over the course of a mile, that would make the accumulated reduction in knee load would be over 4,800 pounds! This means that if people didn’t stop growing and their bodies weren’t made to handle the extra weight, it could lead to some pretty serious problems.
So, what do you think about all this? How big would you want to be if you didn’t have to stop growing?
