height

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Height That Helped His NBA Career Now Threatens His Life

Ex-Pacer Scot Pollard, who was also on 'Survivor,' awaits heart transplant from a patient his size

(Newser) - At 6-foot-11, Scot Pollard's size helped him play more than a decade in the NBA, earning him a championship ring with the 2008 Boston Celtics. Now it may be killing him. Pollard needs a heart transplant, an already dire predicament that's made more difficult by the fact so...

Americans Are Shrinking, and It Started With Millennials

Once the tallest in the world, American men have shrunk to 47th, women 58th

(Newser) - Back in the 1800s, records showed that Americans were the tallest in the world. But something happened in the 1980s stateside—men and women's average height was shrinking when compared with other countries. Meghna Chakrabarti spoke with researchers on WBUR's On Point to dig into why, and they...

DeSantis Addresses the Boot Question
DeSantis Addresses
the Boot Question

DeSantis Addresses the Boot Question

Florida governor insists he doesn't wear lifts, but a Politico analysis suggests otherwise

(Newser) - It's one of the weirder political stories of the day: Politico Magazine talked to three boot-makers about the pair worn by Ron DeSantis, and all suspect the Florida governor is wearing lifts to boost his height. The governor's boots have been the topic of much speculation, and critics'...

She Has Seen the Future, and the People Are Short
Short People, You Now
Have a Reason to Live
OPINION

Short People, You Now Have a Reason to Live

Mara Altman says it's time to stop celebrating people just for being tall, despite that song

(Newser) - Mara Altman was a healthy child, but her parents nonetheless had her injected with growth hormone treatments in a bid to goose her height. The treatment didn't quite work: Today, Altman is 5-foot-even, though she couldn't be happier about it, she writes in a New York Times essay....

He Paid $75K to Get 3 Inches Taller
He Wanted to Be Taller.
Agony, $75K Got Him There
longform

He Wanted to Be Taller. Agony, $75K Got Him There

Inside the world of surgical leg lengthening

(Newser) - For the next five years, John Lovedale will be paying $1,200 a month back to SoFi bank to pay off the loan he got in order to pay for cosmetic leg lengthening. The procedure is what it sounds like: one's femurs are broken and adjustable titanium nails are...

The Taller You Are, the Higher the Risk for These Diseases

But taller people benefit from a lower risk of conditions including heart disease: study

(Newser) - Height may be a previously unrecognized risk factor for several common diseases, according to the largest study of the link between height and disease thus far. The study using data from more than 222,000 white adults and more than 58,000 Black adults enrolled in the US Veterans Affairs...

Elective Limb-Lengthening Is Getting More Common
Some Men Are Opting
to Get Taller—Surgically
longform

Some Men Are Opting to Get Taller—Surgically

It's not cheap or easy, but some see it as a life-altering opportunity

(Newser) - It’s not a stretch to say short guys have it tough sometimes. Think Napoleon: sure, he conquered Europe, but he also got a complex named after him because—evidently—being short made him fighting mad. In a recent BuzzFeed article, reporter Elamin Abdelmahmoud lays out research that shows modern-day...

America's Tallest Person Dead at 38
America's
Tallest Person
Dead at 38
obituary

America's Tallest Person Dead at 38

Igor Vovkovinskiy was a shade above 7-foot-8

(Newser) - Igor Vovkovinskiy, the tallest man in the United States, has died in Minnesota at the age of 38. His family said the Ukrainian-born Vovkovinskiy died of heart disease on Friday at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, per the AP . Vovkovinskiy came to the Mayo Clinic in 1989 as a child...

Trump, Self-Declared 'Un-Trump' Duke It Out


Trump,
Self-Declared
'Un-Trump'
Duke It Out
the rundown

Trump, Self-Declared 'Un-Trump' Duke It Out

President, Bloomberg exchange insults as former mayor distances self from old comments

(Newser) - Michael Bloomberg is spending a small fortune on his 2020 presidential campaign, and his ads and cutting comments critical of President Trump appear to be rankling the president. On Thursday, Trump lashed out:
  • The nickname: "Mini Mike is a 5'4" mass of dead energy who does not want
...

This Is How Much the Average American Weighs
This Is How Much the
Average American Weighs
in case you missed it

This Is How Much the Average American Weighs

197.9 pounds for men, 170.6 pounds for women—30 pounds more than in the early '60s

(Newser) - Everyone might want to get a head start on their New Year's resolutions to shed a few pounds. Per CNN , a new report from the CDC's National Center for Health Statistics shows Americans are shrinking—the average height for men (5-9) and women (5-4) decreased slightly from 1999-2000...

Reason Pygmies Are Short May Be Surprisingly Simple
Simple Reason
May Explain
Pygmies' Height
new study

Simple Reason May Explain Pygmies' Height

Study suggests taking shorter steps allows them to survive better in rain forests

(Newser) - Short-statured people known as pygmies live in rain forests around the world, and a new study puts forth a relatively simple explanation for their height: Their shorter step lengths make it a lot easier for them to walk around in dense jungles than it is for taller people. As Newsweek ...

Cancer Study Isn't Great News for Tall People
Cancer Study Isn't Great
News for Tall People
new study

Cancer Study Isn't Great News for Tall People

Researchers see a greater risk for those of above-average height

(Newser) - A new study on cancer won't make for pleasant reading for tall people. Consider this quote from lead researcher Leonard Nunney of the University of California Riverside: "If you were comparing a 5-foot guy to a basketball player who's over 7 feet tall, then that basketball player...

Internet Raises Eyebrow at Trump's Height, Weight
Internet Raises Eyebrow
at Trump's Height, Weight
the rundown

Internet Raises Eyebrow at Trump's Height, Weight

And the term 'girther' is born

(Newser) - That President Trump requested and aced a cognitive exam as part of his first physical as president isn't the detail that's being pored over by the internet. That honor goes to Navy doctor Ronny Jackson's detailing of Trump's height and weight, which Jackson reports as 6-foot-3...

Astronaut's Blessing and Curse: Growing 3.5 Inches in Space

Norishige Kanai was likely joking about it being a problem, but not about it happening

(Newser) - One fringe benefit of an astronaut's trip to space: He or she returns to Earth taller (though only temporarily). That's thanks to the lack of gravity, which elongates the distance between the vertebrae in one's spine. And for one Japanese astronaut, the change has been more extreme...

Estonia Is About to Get a Little Taller

It's switching to new system that will add 8 inches to highest point

(Newser) - Over the next three months, the Baltic country of Estonia will become a little bit taller. That's because it has decided to change how it measures heights above sea level, converting from an old Russian system to something called the European Vertical Reference System, reports the Postimees newspaper. The...

Where World's Tallest Women, Men Live
 Where World's Tallest 
 Women, Men Live 
NEW STUDY

Where World's Tallest Women, Men Live

Latvian women, Dutch men are tallest: study

(Newser) - Latvian women are tallest in the world, with an average height of 5-foot-7, according to a new study in the journal eLife . The same study, based on 2014 data, finds Dutch men tower over the rest at an even 6 feet on average, reports the BBC . The US—home to...

Guys With Long Legs Have Twice the Risk of 1 Cancer

More growth hormones that drive bone growth in legs may be risk factor for colon cancer

(Newser) - Higher cancer rates have been linked generally to taller people, but University of Minnesota researchers are reporting a startling find: Men with longer legs have a 42% higher risk of developing colorectal cancer than those with shorter legs, reports Live Science . More specifically, they found that the men with the...

Your Size Predicts How Much You Earn

 Your Size Predicts 
 How Much You Earn 
STUDY SAYS

Your Size Predicts How Much You Earn

Short men, overweight women are at a disadvantage: study

(Newser) - Bad news for short men and overweight women: You have "reduced chances in life" when it comes to income, education, and job prospects, the Washington Post reports via a new study in the British Medical Journal . University of Exeter researchers analyzed how genetic variants related to height and BMI...

Shorter Women Tend to Have Shorter Pregnancies
Shorter Women Tend to Have Shorter Pregnancies
NEW STUDY

Shorter Women Tend to Have Shorter Pregnancies

Maternal height appears to influence gestational age

(Newser) - The height and weight of a newborn baby is largely governed by his or her own genes, but it's the height of the mother that's giving researchers a telltale sign, reports the Telegraph . Specifically, shorter women have shorter pregnancies and thus more premature babies, report investigators at the...

The Shorter You Are, the Higher Your Heart Disease Risk

Research looks at genetics in 200K people

(Newser) - It's tough enough being on the shorter side, and a new study in the New England Journal of Medicine doesn't make things any easier. Researchers in the UK find that being small of stature increases the risk of coronary heart disease, the Telegraph reports. More specifically, for every...

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