World's tallest woman dies at 53

[tuvor]

Source: AP

A woman who grew to be seven feet, seven inches tall and was recognized as the world's tallest female died early Wednesday, a friend said. Sandy Allen was 53.

Allen, who used her height to inspire schoolchildren to accept those who are different, died at a nursing home in her hometown of Shelbyville, Ind., family friend Rita Rose said.

The cause of death was not yet known. Allen had been hospitalized in recent months as she suffered from a recurring blood infection, along with diabetes, breathing troubles and kidney failure, Rose said.

Read more: http://www.cbc.ca/world/story/2008/08/13/tallest-woman.html

[Dr.Phool]

1. Worlds tallest dwarf.

Nevermind

[KansDem]

3. Ah, yes...!

[backscatter712]

2. Being that tall's not all it's cracked up to be.

The article mentioned a Chinese woman who's likely to be even taller than Sandy Allen.

I remember seeing a Discovery Channel show on her - that sort of height is usually caused by pituitary gland's gone amok, in her case, it was a benign tumor on the pituitary.

The poor woman was barely able to stand or walk, was in tremendous pain, and had a huge laundry list of medical problems caused by the pituitary and her enormous height.

What was even worse was that she was dirt poor, in China, and only when she became a minor celebrity due to her record-breaking height, did she get any sort of decent medical care.

[MadHound]

4. Yep, even being moderately above the national average can be a pain in some cases

I'm 6'5", and have to buy my jeans, at extra cost, through special mail order. Most theater seats are uncomfortable. I've had people assume that because I'm a big guy that I'm dumb as a stump. I've had others assume that because I'm big that I'm also somehow mean or threatening. And then there are always those fine dumb fuckheads who are drunk and want to fight with the big man to prove their own toughness. This has gotten to the point where I rarely go to a bar anymore, once, twice a year.

Being tall isn't all it's cracked up to be, but neither would I trade it in. It has come in handy on many occasions, and my wife wouldn't have fallen for me if I'd been much shorter(she's tall also, and having gotten tired of the "head in the chest" moments presented by shorter men, she vowed to only date tall men, lucky me)

All in all, it seems as though there are advantages and disadvantages for every size, and the trick is to love the size you are.

[Snarkturian Clone]

5. She was great on the Howard Stern show that one time.

Howard was more respectful to her than any other guest I've ever heard him have. She stood next to Howard and said "How's the weather down there?".

[Kerrytravelers]

6. Oh, this is sad. 53 is so young.

I have seen her on television a number of times. She seemed like a very nice person. We should keep her family and friends in our thoughts.

[dougkeenan]

7. She was a kind person

Well known in Indiana and now fondly remembered RIP

[bullwinkle428]

8. Day-to-day life had to have been a major stuggle for her

if she required the care of a nursing home at age 53...my heart goes out to her family and friends.

[daleo]

9. There is evidence of an inverse relationship between height and longevity

Department of Psychiatry, University of California, San Diego.

The study was conducted to evaluate one aspect of the entropy theory of aging, which hypothesizes that aging is the result of increasing disorder within the body, and which predicts that increasing mass lowers life span. The first evaluation of the impact of human size on longevity or life span in 1978, which was based on data for decreased groups of athletes and famous people in the USA, suggested that shorter, lighter men live longer than their taller, heavier counterparts. In 1990, a study of 1679 decreased men and women from the general American population supported these findings. In the present study data on the height, weight, and age at death of 373 men were obtained from records at the Veterans Administration Medical Center, San Diego, CA, USA. Men of height 175.3 cm or less lived an average of 4.95 years longer than those of height over 175.3 cm, while men of height 170.2 cm or less lived 7.46 years longer than those of at least 182.9 cm. An analysis by weight difference revealed a 7.72-year greater longevity for men of weight 63.6 kg or less compared with those of 90.9 kg or more. This corroborates earlier evidence and contradicts the popular notion that taller people are healthier. While short stature due to malnutrition or illness is undesirable, our study suggests that feeding children for maximum growth and physical development may not add to and may indeed be harmful to their long-term health and longevity.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/1600586

[SheilaT]

11. How fascinating.

I'm trying to think of people who've lived into their 90s or older, and I can't offhand think of any who were real tall, even allowing for the shrinkage that often accompanies aging.

[Thor_MN]

13. Considering that anyone who died at age 90 was born 90 years ago or more

and that the average height for people born in 1918 and before is much shorter than people born in the 60's and later...

Actuarial studies can really only tell you things about people that are already dead. Trying to draw a comparison to people who are now alive is comparing "Granny Smith's" to "Red Delicious" at best.

[daleo]

15. There are some plausible biological reasons for this

1) Heart has to work harder against gravity over a lifetime.
2) Cummulative effect of minor trauma over a lifetime, caused by lack of fit between tall people and built environment.
3) More height means more mass, which means more metabolism, which could lead to more tumors.

But it is hard to tease these things apart, since height has long been correlated with nutrition and social status.

[DainBramaged]

16. My Mom is 90, she is 4'7" tall. She has shrunk over the years.

She said she was 5' tall in her teens. I remember always been head and shoulders taller than her most of my life.

[skoalyman]

14. I know of one man that was 6ft or taller he was my neighbor he died in his 80's of

prostate cancer same thing that took my grand dads life.

[watercolors]

10. I am sorry to hear that

her life has been a struggle, but she was optimstic and gracious in spite of her problems.Rest in peace Sandy.

[knixphan]

12. ditto.