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ImAScientistToo t1_iu22h2c wrote

It mostly depends on if your growth plates have fused yet. If not then you will grow taller. Easily 7+ feet. If they have already fused you will develop a condition called acromegaly. Most people with excess growth hormone will develop acromegaly after their growth plates fuse. Last I checked they haven’t figured out how to treat is medically yet. Sometimes surgical procedures can be done to the pituitary gland to prevent further progression.

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happyhourscience t1_iu2e4u6 wrote

There is an FDA-approved GHR inhibitor called pegvisomant approved for acromagaly.

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Lisagreyhound t1_iu36lyq wrote

I was put on the pill in my early teens by an endocrinologist to reduce my height by making my growth plates fuse earlier. I would get X-rays of my wrist to check the growth plate. I was going to be at least 6 foot 1. I am 5 foot 11.

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tony787720 t1_iu36zfw wrote

Why on Earth did you not want to be 6’1??

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Sable-Keech t1_iu37t03 wrote

Maybe it would’ve been too late to stop the growth by the time he was 6’1”.

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Lisagreyhound t1_iu3cfuv wrote

*she

It was AT LEAST 6 foot 1 but could be heaps more. This was back in the 80s and my growth trajectory was off the chart. Like above the 100 percentile, so in guesstimate territory.

In those days I was super skinny and could not find clothes that fit. So the idea of not being able to shop in normal shops was a major motivator. These days it wouldn’t be an issue.

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nhorning t1_iu458qn wrote

I remember in the 80's there was somehow a public discussion being had about whether men would date tall women. Now it seems like it's entirely about whether women will date short men.

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Lisagreyhound t1_iu6whqa wrote

Yes. I had forgot this point. I know it shouldn’t matter but it did / does to me.

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clinkzs t1_iu45mvx wrote

For how long were you still growing after your first period ?

I have female cousins who are over 1.80m and they all only grew taller for around 2 years (13-15)

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gwaydms t1_iu57n54 wrote

I (f) was 5'5 (165 cm) at 15. By the time I graduated, a month before I turned 18, I was 5'7 (170.2 cm). Over the summer, before starting college, I grew about another ½" to be 171.5 cm. So YMMV.

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Lisagreyhound t1_iu6wa21 wrote

They had been measuring my growth since I was about 8, I think. So by the time I was in year 7 they had been tracking my growth for a few years. I went on the pill then (told no one at school what I was on).

I would have been fine with 6ft 1. It was the risk that it could be a lot higher that made me take the drug. It was a risk reduction exercise.

I think it’s a blunt instrument. So I’m a little shorter than perhaps I’d like, but that is the price I paid to reduce the risk.

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azuth89 t1_iu1v227 wrote

It does, it just doesn't work alone. There are other triggers in your body for growth that work along with it and determine how "receptive" you are to it for lack of a better term. Additional HGH in your early to mid teens while most are still rapidly growing will cause additional growth. A few years after that your body is no longer receptive to getting bigger that way. You can add muscle, put on bone density in response to stress, etc... but your frame isn't going to grow the same way it does when you're younger.

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BlazeObsidian t1_iu332zx wrote

Wait, can you elaborate on putting on bone density in response to stress ? Never heard of that one before.

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Cautemoc t1_iu34rah wrote

They probably mean stress on the bones, not like, anxiety stress. Bones get denser when you do weightlifting.

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azuth89 t1_iu42j7p wrote

Stress as in physical stresses. Heavy weightlifting like the other guy said, but you'll also see it from impact like people that get really into martial arts or who swing tools for a living. It tries to build up where you see micro fractures but it can't recover stronger from major damage like true breaks.

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thecalcographer t1_iu37wi4 wrote

It does make you taller, at least until your growth plates have fused. For example, somatropin, a synthetic growth hormone, is sometimes given as an injection to children who are significantly smaller than expected to help them grow taller. Once their growth plates have fused, however, a person's height is set, and so there's no way to become taller without breaking bones. If a grown adult took somatropin, their body would build muscle instead of making them taller.

ETA: excess growth hormone can lead to major health issues, which is why it's not typically prescribed for regular-height people to become a bit taller. Somatropin, for example, increases your risk of brain and skin cancers.

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acroman39 t1_iu43mkz wrote

Some bones can continue to grow after the growth plates of the long bones have fused. Finger and foot bones, the lower jaw, ribs, skull and vertebra. All bones, even long bones, will thicken.

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kieffa t1_iu2mera wrote

Non-scientist here with a total guess! Robert Wadlow naturally produced more HGH than he should, so this was happening during more of his growth periods like puberty as well where the effect would be significantly more pronounced. I remember reading something a while ago about how his record will never be beaten because physicians will recognize the condition early on and manage it to prolong the life and quality of life of anyone with that condition.

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Moar_Input t1_iu46nuz wrote

Hgh acts different in infancy compared to adulthood. Acromegaly vs gigantism is what results. Acromegaly simplified is an over accentuated of musculoskeletal features (more coarse and “gruff” looking). Gigantism is exactly as it sounds.

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CranjusMcBasketball6 t1_iu852l2 wrote

If Robert Waldow became so tall because of an excess of growth hormone, why didn't he have an excess of other hormones as well?

There could be a few reasons for this. One possibility is that the excess growth hormone specifically affected his height. Another possibility is that he had an excess of all hormones, but that the growth hormone had the most noticeable effect on his height.

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