On the basketball court, we can often see some flying "giants", just like Yao Ming, the basketball star of our country, who is 2.28 meters tall.
Yao Ming, photo taken in 2006
A lot of times we talk about height advantages, isn't it good to be tall?
Of course not, too tall will also bring a lot of trouble.
There are very few women among the giants we learned, and there are two in China.
One of the "female giants" is not only ranked first in China, but also the tallest woman in the world, but unfortunately, she died in her sleep at the age of 17.
Female giant Zeng Jinlian
Why can this "female giant" grow so tall?
What advantages does her height give her?
And what harm does it bring?
Are all the giants of the world like her?
Next, let's understand why China's "female giant" who is 2.48 meters tall and can eat 2 pounds of rice has such a short life span.
"Female giants" can eat 2 pounds of rice at a time
China's First "Female Giant"
A baby girl was born in 1964 in Yujia Village, Hunan Province, and people didn't know she would become the tallest woman in China and the world.
The newborn Zeng Jinlian was not much different from other babies.
Even if it is a little longer than other children, it may be that the height of the parents is inherited.
"Female giant" Zeng Jinlian
In the 1960s, there were some families that preferred sons to daughters, but because before Zeng Jinlian was born, the great-father and great-mother already had a son, so they did not pay attention to it because the second child was a daughter.
Zeng Jinlian grew up differently from ordinary people
Zeng Jinlian seemed to be able to grow like a normal child in the first few years, but the amount of food was larger than that of ordinary children.
Development of the fetus
Adults often put "being able to eat is a blessing" in their mouths, so Zeng Jinlian eating more makes his great-father and great-mother feel that it is a blessing.
By the time Zeng Jinlian reached the age of 5, her height was already more than a meter.
At this time, Zeng Jinlian's food intake has already competed with her mother, and the growth rate of height and weight is much faster than that of ordinary children.
This made the great-father and great-mother feel a little worried, and it was impossible to determine whether there was a problem with Zeng Jinlian's body.
Female giant Zeng Jinlian
But they quickly dispelled this doubt, because Zeng Jinlian was not only alive and jumping, but also had great strength and could help the family do a lot of things.
So they lived peacefully for a few years, and by the time they were ten years old, Zeng Jinlian had grown about the same height as her great-father, and perhaps even a little taller.
At this time, Zeng Jinlian's physique was equivalent to that of an adult man, but he ate more than before.
Not long after, Zeng Jinlian's body did not have any problems, but the Zeng family's savings were almost spent.
The doctor was measuring the length of Zeng Jinlian's right arm
Zeng Jinlian's crazy growth caused the Zeng family to be unable to make ends meet
Zeng Jinlian's height did not stop growing after the age of ten, but grew faster and faster.
Even the largest size of clothes on the market looked very short on Zeng Jinlian's body, and there were few shoes she could wear.
The bed at home is not enough for Zeng Jinlian to sleep, and she can only walk hunched over at home so that she will not be hit on the head.
Giant at 2.48 meters
And Zeng Jinlian's food intake has reached the point where he can eat 2 kilograms of rice a day, and his height seems to be constantly consuming energy, so Zeng Jinlian also needs to eat some food at any time to fill his stomach.
So on the one hand, the great-father was desperately trying to earn money outside, changing his daughter's bed more wide, re-raising the house, and buying more rice and snacks.
Female Giant
On the one hand, the great-mother tried to solve the problem of her daughter's clothes and shoes, and some of the clothes or shoes she could make were completely handmade, but the efficiency was very slow and often could not catch up with the growth rate of Zeng Jinlian.
By the time Zeng Jinlian was 14 years old, she had reached a height of 2.34 meters and weighed 132 kilograms.
Zeng Jinlian shoes also need to wear size 60
It takes 3.2 zhang cloth to make a set of clothes, 60 yards of shoes, and a bed of more than 2.8 meters.
This series of costs is several times more than that of ordinary families in the same village, and can only rely on government subsidies to survive.
Female giants and ordinary people in contrast
Zeng Jinlian entered the national basketball team
From the moment Zeng Jinlian began to be different from ordinary people, it was indispensable as a talking point after tea and dinner in the village.
When she was a child, the most talked about was how tall she would grow.
When you get older, you will be said to be too tall to marry.
Usually, when there is a little bit of Zeng Jinlian, the mouths of the villagers begin to preach everywhere like stepping on the hot wheel.
China women's national basketball team
So the news that there was a "female giant" in Yujia Village was spread to the national basketball team in ten or ten hundred places.
For such a height, it is natural to be treated as a treasure by the national basketball team, after all, tall people have an absolute advantage on the basketball court.
So the head of the national basketball team came to Zeng Jinlian's house from far and wide, wanting to recruit Zeng Jinlian into the basketball team.
Not only did she provide free food and lodging for Zeng Jinlian, but she also had money to play professional games.
Play basketball
Zeng Jinlian is happy that her height has finally come into play, which means that she can not only reduce the burden on her parents, but also achieve her own career.
Although the great-father and great-mother were very worried about their 14-year-old daughter, they respected Zeng Jinlian's wishes.
The height of the "female giant" was found
Zeng Jinlian had a very happy time on the basketball team, where she could no longer bend over for a long time for others, and she could eat enough.
Female Giant
However, the good times did not last long, and after only one year of training, Zeng Jinlian's body began to eat up.
Due to the daily abundance of food and high-intensity training, Zeng Jinlian, who is still in the development stage, has grown faster in height during the jumping process.
Rapidly growing height led to the body's various functions can not fully function, Zeng Jinlian began to frequent dizziness, anemia and other symptoms.
Even fainted during many trainings, the head of the basketball team quickly contacted his great-father and great-mother and took Zeng Jinlian to seek medical treatment.
Man Giant
The results were hard for them to accept, and the 15-year-old girl was found to have gigantism and diabetes.
Diabetes can still be understood, but what does gigantism mean?
- Giant disease
For a long time, because Zeng Jinlian did not have any major problems in the process of growing up, she has always been quite healthy.
Therefore, for Zeng Jinlian's height, his great-father and great-mother have always believed that this is Zeng Jinlian's natural birth and has no idea of seeking medical treatment.
Brain structure
But now it has been found that Zeng Jinlian is because the day after tomorrow, a tumor grew in front of the pituitary gland, resulting in hyper-skilled pituitary gland, secretion of growth hormone is too exuberant, and eventually created her growing height.
- The fall of the "female giant"
After the symptoms were detected, Zeng Jinlian received treatment for a period of time, but the level of medical technology in the 1970s and 1980s was not high, and the research on gigantism was not in-depth, so Zeng Jinlian's diabetes could only be treated.
Female Giant
Later, after Zeng Jinlian's condition was basically stable, he returned home.
But it was clear that her health had gradually deteriorated, and in addition to diabetes, the symptoms of gigantism had gradually become prominent.
The long-term headache was accompanied by Zeng Jinlian, and the appearance of osteoporosis and spinal tilt began.
At first, Zeng Jinlian was able to persist in moving outside, but later her health deteriorated, and her basic activities depended on her parents.
Giant at 2.48 meters
Later, Zeng Jinlian could only eat in bed, and she would hardly get out of bed.
In 1984, Zeng Jinlian spent her last Spring Festival at home, but she did not survive until the day of the Lantern Festival.
On the morning of February 14, her great-father and great-mother discovered that Zeng Jinlian had died in her sleep, when she was not yet 18 years old.
Zeng Jinlian died in her sleep
Zeng Jinlian donated his own body
Although Zeng Jinlian only spent a short life, although she was distressed by her illness, she decided to donate her body to the country before she died.
Because she knows that she is only one of the cases, there may be someone who will suffer like her in the future.
The body of Zeng Jinlian
Therefore, she is willing to donate her body to promote medical research in this area on the mainland and eventually find a way to treat it.
To this day, the Xiangya Medical College of Central South University still has the remains of Zeng Jinlian intact.
Giants of the world?
In this world, there are many giants like Zeng Jinlian.
3.19 m tall Zhan Shichao
It is understood that the tallest giant in the world is Zhan Shichao from China, who is 3.19 meters tall.
However, this height has been questioned a lot, so it is not recognized by the world.
Many of the world's giants on record are due to gigantism.
Either he died young or was devastated by illness.
Bao Xishun
But there are also some giants who are lucky, they do not suffer from gigantism, and they also live a healthy life under special care.
For example, Bao Xishun, who was certified by the Guinness Book of World Records in 2006, is the tallest person in the world, when he was 2.36 meters tall.
However, this record was later broken.
Now that Bao Xishun is still alive, there are no abnormalities in his body organs, so he does not suffer from gigantism.
Bao Xishun: 2 meters 36, currently the world's 2nd
Nowadays, we have made a breakthrough in the treatment of gigantism, which can be treated surgically or through corresponding hormone replacement therapy, and some clinical symptoms can also be alleviated.