3 ms·

A Brief History of Dwarfism

26 points by acsillag 12y ago

a2tech 12y ago
Who knew there were over 400 different medical conditions that can cause dwarfism?
- logfromblammo 12y ago
  When you define dwarfism as "adult height <= 147 cm", I'm not surprised. Animal biology is complex, and a lot of competing factors come into play when determining the dimensions of an adult. Cross-species hybrids have reciprocal crosses, like the hinny is to the mule, or the tigon is to the liger. The gestation environment produces different results from (theoretically) the same genetic mix. Hinnies are smaller than mules, and tigons smaller than ligers. Any deficiency of several single dietary factors prior to maturity could cause retarded or stunted growth. The drugs typically used in the parents' household could have an effect, like tobacco smoke. Biological colonies in the home might have an effect. Cockroaches, dust mites, or mold spores could be prompting some epigenetic response. Then there's autoimmune disorders, endocrine feedback disruption, unethical human experimentation, physical traumas, contagious disease during a critical growth period, etc. That's really a testament to the adaptability of animal species. A huge variety of environmental stresses result in a smaller, but still-viable, organism.
pervycreeper 12y ago
From TFA: >Mengele is remembered as the angel of death—a cruel doctor who performed unscientific and often deadly experiments From Wikipedia [1]: >He was notorious for the selection of victims to be killed in the gas chambers and for performing unscientific and often deadly human experiments on prisoners. [1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Josef_Mengele http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Josef_Mengele
reasonattlm 12y ago
Interestingly, one variant of hereditary dwarfism that is present in a small group of people, Laron syndrome [1], is a good illustration to show that methods of altering the operation of metabolism to extend healthy life in short-lived mammals should not be expected to produce anywhere near the same gains in long-lived humans. The longest lived engineered mice are those with disruptions to growth hormone or its receptor, and Laron syndrome is much the same thing. The mice live as much as 70% longer, but people with Laron syndrome don't seem to be any longer lived than the rest of us, though it is possible based on the data gathered to date that they are somewhat more resistant to cancer and diabetes. [1]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laron_syndrome https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laron_syndrome
skywhopper 12y ago
On the topic of understanding marginalized groups who build their own culture (including LPs, the Deaf community, and others) and how "cures" are often perceived as attempts at elimination, I can't recommend highly enough Andrew Solomon's book "Far from the Tree"[1], a work 11 years in the making written with immense empathy that tells the varying stories of dozens of people in each of these communities and the differing ways they react to mainstream culture, to the "horizontal" cultures of people like them, and to "cures" for their condition, specifically told from the angle of the parent-child relationship. It's utterly fascinating, deeply informative, and often heartbreakingly personal. It's a huge book, but you can take it chapter by chapter or I can also highly recommend the audiobook version, read by the author. [1]: http://www.farfromthetree.com/ http://www.farfromthetree.com/
vonnik 12y ago
You can almost hear the headline writer flirting with a very bad pun.

26 points by acsillag 12y ago

a2tech 12y ago

Who knew there were over 400 different medical conditions that can cause dwarfism?

logfromblammo 12y ago
When you define dwarfism as "adult height <= 147 cm", I'm not surprised. Animal biology is complex, and a lot of competing factors come into play when determining the dimensions of an adult. Cross-species hybrids have reciprocal crosses, like the hinny is to the mule, or the tigon is to the liger. The gestation environment produces different results from (theoretically) the same genetic mix. Hinnies are smaller than mules, and tigons smaller than ligers. Any deficiency of several single dietary factors prior to maturity could cause retarded or stunted growth. The drugs typically used in the parents' household could have an effect, like tobacco smoke. Biological colonies in the home might have an effect. Cockroaches, dust mites, or mold spores could be prompting some epigenetic response. Then there's autoimmune disorders, endocrine feedback disruption, unethical human experimentation, physical traumas, contagious disease during a critical growth period, etc. That's really a testament to the adaptability of animal species. A huge variety of environmental stresses result in a smaller, but still-viable, organism.

pervycreeper 12y ago

From TFA: >Mengele is remembered as the angel of death—a cruel doctor who performed unscientific and often deadly experiments From Wikipedia [1]: >He was notorious for the selection of victims to be killed in the gas chambers and for performing unscientific and often deadly human experiments on prisoners. [1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Josef_Mengele http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Josef_Mengele

reasonattlm 12y ago

Interestingly, one variant of hereditary dwarfism that is present in a small group of people, Laron syndrome [1], is a good illustration to show that methods of altering the operation of metabolism to extend healthy life in short-lived mammals should not be expected to produce anywhere near the same gains in long-lived humans. The longest lived engineered mice are those with disruptions to growth hormone or its receptor, and Laron syndrome is much the same thing. The mice live as much as 70% longer, but people with Laron syndrome don't seem to be any longer lived than the rest of us, though it is possible based on the data gathered to date that they are somewhat more resistant to cancer and diabetes. [1]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laron_syndrome https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laron_syndrome

skywhopper 12y ago

On the topic of understanding marginalized groups who build their own culture (including LPs, the Deaf community, and others) and how "cures" are often perceived as attempts at elimination, I can't recommend highly enough Andrew Solomon's book "Far from the Tree"[1], a work 11 years in the making written with immense empathy that tells the varying stories of dozens of people in each of these communities and the differing ways they react to mainstream culture, to the "horizontal" cultures of people like them, and to "cures" for their condition, specifically told from the angle of the parent-child relationship. It's utterly fascinating, deeply informative, and often heartbreakingly personal. It's a huge book, but you can take it chapter by chapter or I can also highly recommend the audiobook version, read by the author. [1]: http://www.farfromthetree.com/ http://www.farfromthetree.com/

vonnik 12y ago

You can almost hear the headline writer flirting with a very bad pun.