I was doing more reading recently and I thought more about how the bones keep their thickness in tact with a relatively constant thickness. Obviously besides increasing in length, the bones are also constantly changing in the radial direction, which is termed appositional growth. To keep the bone width about the same the rate of bone absorption by the osteoclasts and the rate of bone creation by the osteoblast must be equal.

Here is a theory that I am proposing although I haven’t been able to get to a medical textbook to confirm this yet. My guess is that if we can figure out the direction in the radial direction on how bone is created and resorbed, we can simulate cartilage regrowth in the same direction to recreate a new growth plate by the natural process through either a stem cell implant or a chondrocyte/hyaline cartilage implant.

The osteoclasts seem to be working closer on the inside of the long bone, in the trabecular inner region breaking apart the nonliving calcium crystal deposits and the lacunae pits. The osteoblasts on the other hand creating the osteoid and forming new layer of bone seems to be occuring just underneath the layer known as the periosteum. from this process, if we think about the direction of bone growth, from creation to destruction, we can see that the direction of bone growth is inward. As the older bones gets replaced by the newer bone, but still keeping the constant distance in thickness, that should mean that the inner bone cells gets pushed closer and closer to the middle where they eventually get to the osteoclasts which dissolve the bone cartilage formed around there.

My suggestion then is that if we might be able to do a far less invasive surgical procedure where we just attach or plug the layer just beneath the periosteum with mutiple cartilage implants in a way to surround the bone to form a donut shape. If the direction of bone growth is in the radial direction going from outside in, then theoretically the attached cartilage would then be able to fuse into the cortical bone and slowly completely surround the entire bone and develop into a new growth plate. We know that the entire body get’s all of its cell replaced every 7 years, or so goes the urban medical myth. I don’t know what is the turnover rate or average life expectancy time of the bone cells going from the outer layer to the inner layer but if it is less than 1 year, we should be able to possibly get the entire bone area to absorb cartilage for regorwth layer.

However, the cartilage design will have to be at least 5 layers. There must be the initial sacrifice layer which the bones will eventually ossify once the cartilage gets embedded into the cortical bone over time. There must also be a layer of perichondrium on the other side of the cartilage which will eventually be used to encapsulate and protect the third layer from beign penetrated by blood vessels. It seesms that vascularization of the cartilage in the growth plate seems to result in the ossification process. The perichondrium which was around seems to be able to keep the blood vessel out, at least for a certain amount of time. Finally, at the middle of the cartilage implant will be the actual growth plate cartilage with the right chondorcytes, collagen, and proteoglycan inside.

Imagine in your mind the picture of a Macdonald’s Big Mac and you have an idea of what I am talking about. The outer bread loafs represent the cartilage which will get ossified in the gradual embedding process. The meat patties represent the perichondrium which will be to protect the middle layer and give the middle layer it’s growing abilities, and the middle patty represents the real cartilage which will eventually become what will be our new growth plates. The design of the implant must also take into consideration the constant ossification rate of the initial cartilage so the implants can’t have constant thickness themselves, but move from the intial contact to be thicker than the later thickness of the implant.

Now this is where I would like the readers (you guys) to finally give your professional opinion on this idea. I am almost positive the direction of appositional or radial bone growth goes from outside inwards. So we can possibly allow for a this process to push the implant slowly inward into the bone, until one entire thick region of the original metaphysis area gets replaced completely by cartilage.

Me: This is another post in a long series which showcase the tall people in different professions around the world. Here is a list of the tall actors that have been on the big screen whether in the blockbuster movies or the television series. I find it fun to find out how tall some actors and actresses are since I wanted to compare them to real life. They all seem to look a lot bigger on the screen than in real life. I also wanted to add to the list a little.

1. Wilt Charmberlain at 7′ 1″ – In Conan and the Destroyer

2. Kevin Peter Hall at 7′ 2″- the actor who played the Predator in first Predator movie

3. Anthony Robbins at 6′ 7″ – In “Shallow Hal”   (suffered from Pituitary Gigantism)

4. Calvin Lane at 7′ 6″- in an episode of “Walker Texas Ranger”

5. Igor Vovkovinskiy at 7′ 8″ – in movie “Hall Pass”

6. Charles Richard Moll at 6′ 8″ –  as baliff on NBC sitcom Night Court from 1983 to 1992

7. Christopher Lee at 6′ 5″ – for Count Dracula and Count Dooku.

8. John Cleese at 6′ 5″ – for James Bond Q and many others over the years.

9. Patrick Ewing at 7′ 0″, Shawn Bradley at 7′ 6″, Charles Barkley at 6′ 6″, Larry Johnson at 6′ 5″, and Michael Jordan at 6′ 6″ – on Space Jam

10. Kevin Durant at 6′ 9″ – in movie “Thunderstruck”

11. Steven Seagal at 6′ 6″ – for Under Siege series

12. Dolpha Lungren at 6′ 5″ – Rocky IV and recent Expendables movies

13. Semmy Schilt at 6′ 11.5″  – In one of the Transporter movies

14. Lou Ferrigno at 6′ 5″ – “Hulk” impersonation

15. Tony Dodd at 6′ 5″- “Final Destination” series

16. Tommy ‘Tiny’ Lister at 6′ 5″ – Known for playing in the role of gangster and/or thug

17. Jeff Goldblum at 6′ 4″ – Jurasic Park

18. James Avery at 6′ 5″ – Uncle Phil on “Fresh Prince of Bel Air”

19. Vince Vaughn at 6′ 5″ – “Wedding Crashers”

20. David Hasselhoff at 6′ 4″ – Baywatch and TV personality

21. Rick Fox at 6′ 7″ – “Single Ladies”

22. Penn Jillete at 6′ 6″-6′ 7″- Magician and TV speaker

23. Ryan Stiles at 6′ 6″ – “Drew Cary Show” and “Two and Half Men”

24. Vincent Schiavelli – at 6′ 6″ – “Batman”    (suffered from Marfan’s Syndrome)

25. Michael Clarke Duncan at 6′ 5″ – For “The Green Mile”

26. Joe Manganiello at 6′ 5″ – For “Spider Man”

27. Hulk Hogan at 6′ 5″ – Wrestling

28. Stephen Fry at 6′ 5.5″ – For recent Sherlock Holmes movie, a very long list of work associated

29. John Lithgow at 6′ 4″- “Shrek” voice and 3rd rock from the sun

30. Adam Baldwin at 6′ 4″ – “Chuck” series

31. Jason Segel at 6′ 4″ – “How I Met Your Mother” and “Freaks and Geeks”

32. Jason Momoa at 6′ 4″ – for “Baywatch” and and Conan Movie

33. Rory McCann at 6′ 6″ –

34. Kevin Durand at 6′ 6″ – “Wolverine” Movie, “Legion”, “Robin Hood”

35. Ralf Möller at 6′ 6.5″ – Conan, The adventurer series

36. Ray Stevenson at 6′ 4″ – Rome TV series

37. Liam Neeson at 6′ 4″ – Schindler’s List

38. Daniel Cudmore at 6′ 7″ – X-Man: The Last Stand

39. Jack O’Halloran at 6′ 6″ – was in a few Superman movies

40.

(Note: The next list was written by a person names Stian Nielson from the IMDB website. link of the source list is located HERE)

Tall people

This post is for information and resources reasons only. No information on height increase is posted here. All of the names and listing was actually found from the website Tallpeople.com (source HERE). This is not my information but a reprint since I thought it was nice information to know and have on this website. Just another resource to use and have around.

I wanted to put another post to showcase the people who have been listed to be among the tallest in the world who has played the sport of Volleyball, nationally, professionally, or locally.

Note: I am sure that there are probably more guys who are in the 2.10 meters to 2.14 meters range who play Volleyball that I have not found or listed on this post. I know that there are some Dutch and Swedish Men’s Volleyball teams where middle blockers are up to 6′ 11″ in height. 

For Females

From Wikipedia….

Nelly Alisheva – She is a middle blocker from Russia who currently plays for Omichka Omsk in the Russian Super League. Nelly was born on born December 20, 1983 in Lipetsk and she stands  2.05 m (6 ft 9 in). Nelly Alisheva (Russian: Нелли Алишева; born December 20, 1983 in Lipetsk) is a Russian volleyball player. She is 2.05 m (6 ft 9 in) tall and plays as center. She plays for Dinamo-Yantar Team since 2003.She is the tallest of left-handed women of the world (The second tallest is Valentina Borrelli).

Yekaterina Aleksandrovna Gamova (Russian: Екатерина Александровна Гамова) (born October 17, 1980 in Chelyabinsk) is a Russian volleyball player. She was a member of the national team that won the gold medals at the 2006 and 2010 FIVB Women’s World Championships, and the silver medal in both the Athens 2004 andSydney 2000 Olympic Games. She is 2.02 m (6 ft 8 in) tall with EU size 49 feet, making her one of the tallest female athletes in the world.^[2][3] Her role is outside hitter/opposite.

For Males

Renan Buiatti: 2.12m. tall volleyball player. Renan born in Brazil and have 22 years old. Some media say 2.17m other 2.16m

Wilt Chamberlain – 7′ 1″ (2.16 meters) – President of volleyball association. Chamberlain played volleyball in the short-lived International Volleyball Association, was president of this organization, and is enshrined in the IVA Hall of Fame for his contributions.

From Wikipedia….

Kay van Dijk (born June 25, 1984 in Oosterbeek, Gelderland) is a volleyball player standing at 7′ 0.75″ (2.15 meters tall) from the Netherlands, who represented his native country at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, Greece. There he ended up in ninth place with the Dutch Men’s National Team. He is a member of South Korean Gumi LIG Greaters volleyball team since August of 2008.

Dmitriy Muserskiy (born 1988 in Makiivka, Ukraine)^[1] is a Russian volleyball player, who competes for Belogorie Belogorod and the national team. He has competed at the 2012 Summer Olympics, where Russia got to the final and won against Brazil. He won 31 points in that match and was Russia’s best player.

Aleksey Valerevich Kazakov (Russian: Алексей Валерьевич Казаков, born May 18, 1976) is an Russian volleyball player. He was born in Naberezhnye Chelny, Tatar Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic. Kazakov was a member of the national team that won the bronze medal at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens. Four years earlier in Sydney he gained the silver medal. He is 2.18 metres tall, making him one of the tallest athletes in the world. (other sources say he is 2.16 meters tall)

Continuing on with a tradition of finding the tallest people around the world, I present today the tallest female models in the world. In certain professions like basketball, volleyball, and modeling the factor of height does play a major role. For modeling, the people in the industry state that people who have long, tall thin bodies seem to be able to make most type of dress and clothing look good on the model who has the right body shape. I don’t know anything about modeling myself but I would guess modeling is based on looking good and people in general assume that being taller means being more attractive.

For a long time the title of the tallest female model in the world went to a California resident named Amazon Eve who stood a little over at 6′ 8.5″ (or 2.05 meters) tall. (source link HERE) She apparently was trained to be a personal trainer but in recent years she has developed a lot of popularity on the internet for her pictures which makes her look ever bigger. Now a large percentage of her income comes from modeling gigs and she is very proud and happy with her height.

That title recently appears to have to be given up to the Brazilian native Elisany Silva who stand at 6′ 9″ (or 2.06 meters) tall. (source link HERE) I had written a post about Elisany before who I featured as a contender for the title of the world’s tallest teenager. At the time of this writing (2012) Elisany would be age 16 or 17. However, the cause of the great height of these two female models are not the same. Elisany has been diagnosed with gigantism which is from a pituitary tumor issue while it has not been confirmed that Eve has her size from any form of disorder.

Me: I was looking through the posts on Height Quest and I found a comment left on one of the posts where the person linked to a post which showed that apparently the Koreans have been giving kids with stunted growth a type of herbal mixture to accelerate their growth. The compounds and active ingredients appear to have been found to be extracts of Astragalus membranaceus, Phlomis umbrosa and Eleutherococcus senticosus. The marketed product name is HT042 which comes as a sort of supplement taken orally.  

From a research point of view, the supplement HT042 has no oestrogenic properties. It seems to increase the numeber of IGF-1 and IGF-BP3. Rats given the supplement seemed to grow at 50% faster rate than the controlled group of rats. This supplement at this time can only be obtained with a doctor’s prescription. 

. The link to the actual article is located HERE. The HeightQuest Post was entitled “Can LSJL Work On Adults?”

Korean herbal supplement HT042 makes bones longer 

Traditional herbalists in Korea treat children whose growth is stunted with extracts ofAstragalus membranaceus, Phlomis umbrosa and Eleutherococcus senticosus. A mix containing these herbs is now marketed in Korea as HT042. Pharmacologists from Kyung Hee University will soon publish the results of an animal study in which young rats grew one and a half times as fast when given HT042 as a supplement.

The Koreans published an article two years ago about the growth effects of HT042. [J Med Food. 2010 Dec;13(6):1376-84.] They gave the extract to 3-week-old female rats for four days and found that HT042 boosted the rats’ growth. The combination of astragalus, Phlomis umbrosa and Siberian ginseng boosted the activity of IGF-1 in the growth plates of the bones.

In the article that will be published soon in Phytotherapy Research the Koreans repeated their experiment, but gave rats the supplement for three weeks. Again female rats aged three weeks were given a mixture of alcohol extracts of Astragalus membranaceus, Phlomis umbrosa and Eleutherococcus senticosus in a ratio of 31.2:26.5:42.3. The researchers gave the rats the supplements orally twice a day. The animals were given 100 mg HT042 per kg bodyweight per day. The human equivalent of this dose would be about 16 mg per kg bodyweight per day.

The researchers used two control groups. One group was given nothing [Control], the other was given a daily injection of 20 mcg human growth hormone [rhGH] per kg bodyweight.

The figure below shows that the supplement increased the concentration of IGF-1 and – to a lesser extent – the ‘good binding protein’ IGF-BP3 in the growth plates in comparison with the control groups. IGF-BP3 transports IGF-1 without reducing the activity of the growth factor. The bigger the clumps, the more IGF-1 and IGF-BP3.

RZ = resting zone; PZ = proliferative zone; HZ = hypertrophic zone. The length growth of the bones actually takes place in the hypertrophic zone.

The IGF-1 concentration in the blood also rose.

The table below shows that the rats in the control group grew about 34 cm. The rats in the HT042 grew 52 cm. The experimental group animals grew one and a half times as fast as a result of taking the supplement.

The researchers also looked at whether HT042 also has oestrogenic properties. Oestrogen supplementation may increase the aging of growth plates, so that growth in length stops. However the Koreans found no effects on the rats’ reproductive organs and therefore conclude that HT042 contains no oestrogenic components.

“Together, these results suggest that HT042 promotes cell proliferation and bone growth at the epiphyseal plate without oestrogenic activity”, the researchers conclude. “HT042 might be helpful in improving the short stature of children before the pubertal growth spurt.”

Yakult co-financed the study.

Whether it’s sensible to give a supplement like HT042 to children? We have our doubts. Not enough is known yet about side effects. In Korea HT042 is only available with a doctor’s prescription.

Source:  Phytother Res. 2012 Mar 3. doi: 10.1002/ptr.4642. [Epub ahead of print].