OK. The main reason why I wanted to write about this article and about this subject, the Chinese surgeons and doctors who are willing to operate on people to increase their height is because it is one of the most controversial since the cosmetic procedure is technically banned in China but many Chinese doctors are still willing to do the surgery for the money. In some ways, China is like the former USSR and even Russia today. Many of the most radical medical technology creations and innovations seem to come from these countries because they don’t seem to care as much as people in the US over human safety protocols and often are willing to bend or break international rules and laws to make things happen. I am not condemning the actions of these doctors since it was Ilizarov, a Russian Doctor who developed the original idea on how to make limb lengthening surgery work for people with real legitimate medical conditions. I guess sometimes one does have to break the rules and try news things for real innovation to happen.

On the Make Me Taller boards I found a link to a rather well known distraction osteogenesis (aka limb and leg lengthening surgery) Chinese surgeon make some interesting claims that I found slightly ludicrous. The actual title to the Article is “Chinese Doctor Pioneers Height-Increase Surgery” . You can find the original article by clicking HERE.

As always, I will copy and paste the entire article right below, highlight the sections that I found the most fascinating ot most important, and then at the very bottom write a full review, analysis, or critique of the article and what it means for the application of height increase.

Chinese Doctor Pioneers Height-Increase Surgery

Updated Monday, April 12, 2010 11:26 am TWN, AFP -(Found on The China Post)

SHANGHAI — Orthopaedic surgeon Bai Helong hikes up his trousers, places his foot on his desk and marks the spot just below his hairless knee where he cuts into the legs of patients who want to be taller.

Over the past 15 years, Bai has given the gift of height to about 3,000 patients aged 14 to 55 — Chinese, Americans, Germans, Japanese — about half of whom went through with surgery simply because they did not like being short.

“I’m something of an authority in this field,” explains Bai, who uses a technique he developed himself at a modest private clinic in the suburbs of Shanghai.

He saws through both the tibia and the fibula below the knee — “without touching the bone marrow”, he says — to “make the dream come true” of those who say they suffer psychologically from being short.

One week later, the bones begin to regenerate. Heavy braces made of nickel and titanium, each weighing about half a kilo (one pound), are screwed into the inner part of the patient’s legs.

Every day for the following four months, Bai expands the braces to gradually stretch the leg.

“We need four months to get six to eight centimeters,” or two to three inches, the surgeon says. After that, for four more months, the bones get stronger and patients are allowed to begin to walk.

Leg-lengthening was first performed in the 1950s in the former Soviet Union, and then in China, but with sometimes catastrophic results.

In the past, the leg was cut in three places, affecting the delicate bone marrow, and pins were used to steady the bone. In some cases, one leg was left shorter than the other and infections were common.

Today, Bai says, the procedure is safe. Instead of stretching the leg by 1.0-1.5 millimeters a day as in the past, he aims to progress half as fast.

“We’ve not had a single failure since 1995, and now it’s not painful,” insists the doctor, who charges 75,000 yuan (US$11,000) for the surgery.

So who is willing to endure such a procedure, which involves months of total immobilization and a fair amount of discomfort?

“A small person can encounter all kinds of problems — in his or her marriage, family life, workplace,” Bai says.

“The person feels inferior, and experiences psychological problems. I even have met people who wanted to kill themselves.”

Dan Dan, a pretty 25-year-old Chinese woman who is studying Japanese, says she was unhappy when she stood 1.53 meters (five feet) tall. Four months after surgery at Bai’s clinic, she is smiling — and six centimeters taller.

“I wanted to improve my self-image. I am very happy,” says Dan Dan, grimacing as she walks at a snail’s pace on crutches through the halls of the clinic, her body contorted.

“I hope that within a year, I will be able to walk normally. Running, that’s another story,” she says.

Only Dan Dan’s mother is aware of what she is doing — her friends have no idea where she is.

“It seems pretty dangerous at the beginning — they cut through your bones, that is not really socially acceptable in China. It’s not like getting your eyelids done,” she explains, referring to a surgical procedure some Chinese women undergo to give them rounder, wider-looking eyes.

“I held off for a long time. I was really scared.”

Wang Lijun has not told her friends where she is either and as a result, they no longer contact her.

That was a price the 30-year-old was willing to pay during 13 months of treatment, which began in 2008 and took her from 1.52 meters to 1.60 meters — a height gain easily achieved with a pair of stilettos.

“It was my secret. I told no one,” says Wang, who now works on the administration side of Bai’s clinic and says she can run and jump “almost like before”.

“I had lost all of my self-confidence. I wanted a better life.”

Beyond the loss of her social circle, Wang says there were other sacrifices to make — the months of painful treatment, the dark, vicious-looking scars on her legs. Her next step? A plastic surgeon, perhaps.

Is Bai a miracle worker or a sorcerer’s apprentice with a screwdriver and a tire iron who is making a profit from the suffering of others?

The surgeon hits out at his critics, especially “those who oppose me without knowing what my work is all about”.

But as is often the case in China, Bai may be working in a grey zone.

Me: What is most interesting about the article is that this orthopaedic surgeon Bai Helong made a few claims in the article that made me really question whether he is being honest. The biggest claim is that his method, which he independently developed is NOT painful. I want to call him out on this bullshit. That is NOT fucking possible. The fact that he does have to cut a person’s long bones into separate pieces is A PAINFUL PROCESS. Even later in the article the author writes that the patients after surgery are getting around in an uncomfortable way. That means that they are in PAIN. I have read the diaries of other people who go through with this thing and there is no way that one can avoid pain. The Chinese surgeon is making it sound painless so that other people would consider using him as their surgeon than others who would scare them with stories of pain because they were just telling teh prospective patient the truth of the type of ordeal they have to go through.

The second issue I have with him was the extremely low price he put up. I think the article was written in before the last edited date which was in 2010 If I had to guess, I would say the article or the interview talk given by Bai Helong occurred in 2007 or 2008, maybe even earlier. He states that he charges $11,000 for the entire surgery. If you have ever done any research on the cost of limb lengthening surgery you would realize that the price eh gives is far , FAR lower than anything I have seen by any other surgeons who do the same type of surgery. The really low pricetag makes me suspicious and worried about his practices, since there are so many factors and surgical costs involved in this thing. Do remember the quote “If it seems to good to be true, it most likely is”.

The 3rd issue I have with Bai Helong is that apparently his device which works on the same principles as the Ilizarov Brace (and probably looks similar) is able to get 1.0-15. millimeters of bone expansion a day. That is not possible. The most advanced device that I know of which does distraction osteogenesis can do only 0.7 mm a day, not the 1.0-1.5 mm he stated. Going over the limit and trying to expand the human bone too quickly will lead to improperly boen healing and create many forms of complications. Not only that, Helong states that he is now developing a method that can double the speed of the leg expansion. REALLY?? How is that even possible?? I don’t believe he can do it, unless he has some form of magical healing potion he can pore into the separation space between the two separate bone pieces. 

For a better understanding of who this Chinese Othopaedic surgeon Bai Helong is, I went back on the Make Me Taller boards to find out some more info about him. You can find the link to the discussion about him by clicking HERE. I will post what I believe are the best posts that are informative and insightful.

What is first very interesting is that this Dr. Bai was featured on a Oprah Show with Lisa Ling (you can find the link by clicking HERE)

These are other profile’s comments.

–I went there in September 2004 when I was 18.  I stayed at the People’s 8th Hospital for 8 days and I talked to a lot of people that had gotten the surgery and were in the process of lengthening their legs or in the hardening process.  I also met with people that arrived after I did and were going to get the surgery.  I had made up my mind that I was going to get the surgery, but after I arrived I had to rethink it all over again and I ultimately decided not to get it.  It was a very difficult decision.  My biggest concern was amputation due to infection and at a very close second was disproportion because the femur in most people is usually ALWAYS longer than the tibia’s and fibula’s. 

I spent days and hours in one guys room.  I was closer to him than to anyone else.  After 8 years of completely losing contact with him I found him again and he told me that “this” is banned in China.  He did not specify if ONLY Microwound was banned in China or if Limb Lengthening is completely banned in China.  I think that he meant that Limb Lengthening is banned in China.  Apparently he was wrong if Doctors in Beijing, China are performing it.  

He told me that the practice that Dr.  Bai and Dr.  Yude had in the People’s 8th Hospital in Chongqing, China was shut down.  That is very unfortunate because I believe that this method is far superior to the Illizarov method.  The Illizarov method pierces the muscles and leaves a lot of scars.  It damages a lot of muscle tissue in the entire process.  Microwound ONLY pierces the thin layer of skin and maybe some fat in the shin and then goes through the bone. 

Does anyone have any reliable information as to what happened with Microwound? I went onto the web site and I have not gotten a response from and of the Doctors or staff.  Back in 2002 – 2004 I always got quick responses from Dr.  Ruan Yude.  I had a great experience with them.  Dr.  Ruan Yude waited for me at the Chongqing Airport and we both got into a taxi.  Once I arrived they did not pressure me AT ALL and they gave me as much time as I needed to decide again whether I wanted to get the surgery or not.  In the end I decided not to get it but it doesn’t mean that I didn’t want to do it.  If someone is going to get LL surgery they should go for both femurs and lower legs (tibia’s and fibula’s) along with UPPER and LOWER ARMS if they want to remain proportionate. 

Their website looks like it hasn’t been tended to in a while. 

So if anyone has information on this please respond. —

— Dr. Bai is no longer in Chongqing and has moved to a hospital in Shanghai. —

— In 2008 they moved from Chongqing to Shanghai.  There is no way the surgery costs 12,000 Yuan, that would come out to $1887 United States Dollars.  When I went to Chongqing, China in 2004 the price had just gone up from $9,000 to $10,000 USD.  their website is www. heightincreasing. net

I have recently contacted them by email and my eyes opened wide and they still have not shut when I found out that they are asking $35,000 for the surgery.  This price does not include the $1,000 a month hospital stay and $100 a month in food. 

Back in 2004 the $9,000 – $10,000 asking price included the surgery, one year hospital stay with care, one year’s worth of three meals daily, physical examination before surgery, care during lengthening and care after lengthening for an entire year from the day that the surgery was conducted. 

I don’t understand why this method is seldom talked about on this message board.  Why is it not recommended? Why is everyone going to Beijing over this one? I think that this place is the best because it does not pierce the muscles and cause possible permanent muscle and tendon damage.  I have seen it with my own eyes.  I have been there and talked for days and hours with people that had the microwound device implanted on their shins.  One guy that I was the closest to I have spoken to after 8 years and he has changed a lot.  He even deleted his email account right after he gave it to me back in September 2004.  I lost all contact with him for over 7 years until 2011 I found him on Facebook.  He gets very angry when I bring up LL and he refuses to talk about it and to explain to me in depth in detail how his body feels.  He won’t even send me pictures or go into any explanation which would a HUGE help for me.  After 8 years of recovery it would be enough time to know if one can actually be back to 100%. 

I also remember him telling me that he would remove the device back home.  He stayed in Chongqing for about 8 months from February 2004 to early October 2004.  A few months later he removed the microwound device by himself at his home. 

I got the emails of a few other guys that were lengthening in Chongqing, but they never responded back to my 2004 and 2005 emails. —

— Hi, sorry about the price info, it is actually 120,000 yuan (I miss typed) says on the question board.  Maybe this is the price for the Chinese citizens only.  And for those who’s considering micro-wound I think it is best to avoid it because I got a very mixed reiviews from chinese forum who underwent LL using this device.  And as I look through the question board, it mentions that Dr.  Ruan is retired and no longer doing this surgery, only Dr.  Bai is doing it using this device in Harbin but not in Shanghai.  He says that the website/clinic in shanghai is not legit, someone else is using his name to perform the surgery, then when I ask him how can I verify, he simply gave me his phone number from the website I mentioned and ask me to call him.  So, the guy from Shanghai might really be an impersonator. 

To plastikman: The device is not well known is because the doctors want to keep it a low profile and I am not sure why.  However, he does speak good thing about Dr.  Xia’s method and said you can recover faster when comparing to micro-wound.  Hope this helps. —

— To plastikman: it is an external device they goes on the boney part of the shins.  It pierces the thin layer of skin and then goes into the bone.  It completely avoids piercing through the muscle.  Most people that get microwound get it on the tibia’s and fibula’s.  I don’t have the exact numbers on me, but when I was in China in 2004 it seemed that probably 95% or more of everyone that gets Microwound exclusively gets it done on their tibia’s and fibula’s.  Touch your shin.  immediately as you work your way to the outside part of the shin you will feel muscle.  This device is implanted on the boney part so when they are installed they are facing in towards each other.  There are pictures on their web site: www.   heightincreasing.   net

to farewell: thank you so much for that information.  I don’t know how you find out this stuff, but thanks.  The whole thing about them moving to Shanghai and operating through a different doctor sounded VERY suspect, but my desperation may cause me to make huge mistakes when it comes to my irreplaceable body and difficult to make money.  The girl that works for this doctor told me in an email that the total cost is $35,000 plus room and board which would probably come out to $40,00 to $45,000.  I really felt that they were trying to rip me off when they gave me that price.  I tried to haggle it down to $20,000 and after three days they still have not responded back to me. 

I just checked back to this message board for the first time since June 18.  I guess that I was not too far off.  I offered them $20,000 and farewell says that the surgery actually costs 120,000 Yuan which comes out to $18,848 USD.  I had a feeling that I should have started off at $15,000 because I had a huge intuition that they were trying to really ripping me off bad. 

Farewell; how did you get Dr.  Bai’s contact information? I am very hesitant in dealing with this Shanghai hospital.  I also don’t understand why you claim that getting Dr.  Xia’s method allows faster recovery.  Microwound is a lot less invasive.  Does the piercing of muscle by getting the conventional Illizarov method have an affect? Most importantly do people getting LL recover back 100% to the way they were before LL? Are their bodies the same way post LL as if they had NEVER gotten the surgery? Can people run, jump and move just as well as they did before LL?

Also one more note about that guy that I met in Chongqing in 2004.  He also refuses to talk to me period; whether it is about Microwound or not.  Well I should not even mention Microwound because he will probably not even acknowledge its existence.  He just refuses to talk to me at all.  He was such a spiritual and nice guy that is surprises me that he would be that way.  He won’t help me out.  After I received his last email in May 2012, he told me that that would be the last response that I would ever get from him.  He told me that LL is not for me.  He told me to move on with my life and to go to church to worship God. —

Conclusion: The method proposed by this chinese surgeon Bai Helong is called “Micro-Wound Procedure”.

Most people on the Make Me Taller Boards and people who worked with him have given bad reviews and said that the price of the surgery was always a big problem. I guess this guy is running certain practices not completely ethically. So I am going to guess that this Bai Helong Surgeon is probably lying about certain parts of his offered services. If you want to get limb and leg lengthening surgery and really decide to go to China for it, me and others suggest that you avoid this surgeon because he is being unethical in his practices and lying about certain things.

Just yesterday I had spent over 2 hours writing out the best introductory article on Lateral Synovial Joint Loading that I could. It is recommended that you read that article first before you read this article or attempt any exercises or routines described on here. This is mainly to prevent you from injury and hurting yourself because you will be getting a simple step by step guide on how to perform the lateral synovial joint loading routine today. You can find the first article by clicking HERE. This is part two which I probably spent another 2 hours writing up.

For the majority of the guide, I will not be explaining the reasoning behind the steps that much. I did most of the explaining in the first article. Let’s get started.

Step 1 – Do some basic learning.

You NEED to know what you are doing to avoid hurting yourself.

Part 1 – Read the first article I wrote about LSJL. just click HERE. [takes you maximum 20 mins, another 10 minutes to learn the medical terminology]

Part 2 – Read the 1st main article on LSJL on Tyler’s HeightQuest.Com site. just click HERE. [10 minutes to read, another 20-30 minutes to understand]

Part 3 – Read the 2nd main article on LSJL on Tyler’s HeightQuest.Com site. just click HERE. [10 minutes to read, another 20-30 minutes to understand]

Part 4 – Read the 3rd main article on LSJL on Tyler’s HeightQuest.Com site. just click HERE. [20 minutes to read, another 40 minutes to understand]

Step 2 – Getting the equipment.

The main two types suggested are clamps or free weights like dumbells because they are the two types of equipment available that can most easily provide the type of compressive forces need on the epiphysis.

Most hardware stores like Ace, Home Depot, Lowes have the big sized C- clamps (6 inches) needed for your biggers bones like tibia and femur. Cost is around $8-12. For the smaller synovial joints like wrists and elbox, use a smaller clamp (3 inches) which can cost $2-$8. check on the Amazon links to get an idea of what you are going to buy (Link 1, Link 2) I am not affiliate with Amazon so I don’t care if you buy through those links or not. I can not at this time give you advice on what type of clamps are best for you and your limb size.

As for free weights and dumbbells, a $40/ month membership to any reasonably equipped local gym should have the necessary equipment available. Or join the local YMCA.

The total cost probably won’t set your over $60.

Step 3 – Taking supplements

On the HeightQuest.Com website article on “Lateral Synovial Joint Loading Supplement Guide”  Tyler decides to focus on these supplements.

1. Chondroitin & Glucosamine

2. Hyaluronic Acid

3. Royal Jelly

4. Creatine

5. Viagra – I am quite sure you need a prescription for at least this.

6. Alfalfa(Ipriflavone)

I personally have left out maybe 6-8 other supplements he has suggested, but it would still be a good idea for you to take a look at the article to see what the rest are. I wanted to add the Calcium w/ Vitamin D supplement in there too. I don’t think it would hurt.

The total cost of all the supplements if I assume ~ $30-40/ bottle is that if you get all them together is would cost you around $200-250.

Step 4 – The actual exercise routine.

From your readings of the 4 articles above, we focus on one of the synovial joints first. If you are increasing your height, you focus on either the femur epiphysis, the top tibia epiphysis, or the bottom epiphysis. The easiest epiphysis to first focus on is probably the top tibia epiphysis. It is your choice if you want to use just the clamp, or just the dumbbells, or both.

– For clamps – Tyler suggests first trying to use the 6 inch C-Clamp.

1. Find the protruding bone parts (both left and right side) that is about .75-1.25 inches below where the bottom of the patella is when the knee is bent at a 90 degree angle assuming you are a normal sized person. The location for the place you should apply the clamp for the bottom tibia epiphysis is about 0.5 inches above form the inner protruding bone tip (tibia) and the other side (but not the protruding fibula bone) [Note: This is all assuming you are clamping on the lower tibia epiphysis/ankle area]

2. The amount of pressure you need to apply is to to turn the lever of the clamp until you feel the bone underneath the skin deform a little. There is no quantified number value I can give at this moment. The only thing is that if you found the right place, the clamps compressing down should not hurt that much since you are only hitting bone (there will be some pain because you are pushing also against some skin). So, turn the lever of the clamp until you feel that the epiphysis has reached some level of deformation.

3. When you are doing the clamping, you also want to flex your leg muscles contracting the surrounding muscles in a pulsatile fashion.

– For dumbbells – The dumbbells are used as one side of the compression end while the clamps had both sides. Tyler uses either 60 lb or 75 lb dumbbells. The other compression side will be the ground.

1. Place your lower leg down on the hard firm ground with the back protruding epiphysis bone hitting the ground.

2. Use the dumbbell as the other end and push down on the other epiphysis end until you feel that there is some bone deformation. It is going to be a learning process to there will be some trial and error to see if you really did cause some deformaion.

3. While you are doing the dumbbell loading, you also want to flex your leg muscles contracting the surrounding muscles in a pulsatile fashion.

Note: It will take you a while before you find the right locations on your upper tibia or lower tibia. They are not easy to describe with only words. It will also take time for you to be apply to apply the dumbbell load on your legs consistently without it slipping off and hurting you. Be careful. 

Step 5 – Duration and Frequency

Starting Duration – The duration of the clamps and weights both are stated by Tyler to first start at 30 seconds. That time duration will increase as one continues further in the routine over time. 15 second increased time intervals is what I suggest.

Staring Number of Reps – The number of reps at the beginning is 2-4 for both the clamps and the dumbbells.

Starting Frequency – The frequency of the loading will be do the exercise  20-30 times in succession. So when you first begin you apply the load s for 30 seconds, let go for 30 seconds, apply the load again for 30 seconds, let go for another 30 seconds, and then repeat and repeat until you reach the number of reps you were supposed to reach for the day.

Daily & Weekly Frequency – Repeat the process 1-2 times day. Tyler says to do the exercise a maximum of once a day but I don’t see why you can’t do it twice a day. Do that for 3-5 days in a row, but do take 1-2 (nonconsecutive) days off from the routine every week to allow your long bones to heal and increase in length. After that, just repeat and repeat.

If you have a work schedule that does not permit you to do the routine in those set times and those frequency, move the routine frequency and times around. You are an adult so you know how to do that.

Step 6 – Correct measurement practices

It is vitally important to create a standard first so you know what you are measuring and comparing to once you have been progressing along with the routine for an extended time. The people interested in height increase always have to take into consideration with measurement error. A height increase of 0.5 cm can be a measurement error but a 1.5 cm increase probably can not. Be reasonable, and measure yourself correctly when you first decide to begin with the program. That means that one should measure themselves at relatively the same time each day to account for height fluxuations.

An extreme approach if you are a guy is to shave your head, buy a life-sized mirror that you can view your entire body on, and find a straight thick white wall you can draw a line across and lean against. Also standarize the posture and position you will measure yourself when take your height measurement. Certain postures can actually change the measured height.

Place the mirror in front of the white wall so you can lean on the wall and still see your entire body and where the tip of the top of your skull is.

Final Words: If you want to follow a 3 month program, Tyler does have a good article that describes the issues and conditions found HERE and the possible health risks involve with apply the loading for too long HERE. The 1st month will be just for learning and adjusting your actions from making mistakes on how to do the exercise properly. If you have any other questions or issues with the guide, give me an email and I will either answer your question, edit this article so it can be easier to understand, or both. Thank you.

The next article that really fascinated me was an article that I fond from the ABC NEWS website. The actual title to the Article is “Dwarf Gene Discovery: Explanation for Hobbit Species?” . You can find the original article by clicking HERE.

As always, I will copy and paste the entire article right below, highlight the sections that I found the most fascinating ot most important, and then at the very bottom write a full review, analysis, or critique of the article and what it means for the application of height increase.

Dwarf Gene Discovery: Explanation for Hobbit Species?

Somehow while I as doing research for the site I stumbled upon a site and article that made me question a few of my own assumptions on the way growth works. The article talks about the interesting case of Charles Bryne who was called The Irish Giant. Apparently the propensity for the development of pituitary gigantism may have a genetic and hereditary cause, at least for some people. I have always thought that gigantism was a disorder that was random and hit people indiscriminantly.

If you want to take a look at the article your self, the site I found it from can be reached by clicking HERE.

I’m going to copy and paste the full article right below and do a VERY extensive analysis and critique of this article because I believe that this giant will definitely further at least me understanding of growth possibilities and how height works. I will highlight all the parts that are important

In a Giant’s Story, a New Chapter Writ by His DNA

Here is the 2nd resource I wanted to use and that is from TheTallestMan.Com website. The webpage for Charles Byrne is found HERE.

This is the few parts on the page that really got me puzzled.

“Charles Byrne (1761 – 1783) also known as Charles O’Brien or “The Irish Giant”, was a human curiosity or freak in London in the 1780s….His exact height is of some conjecture, but most accounts refer to him as from 8 feet 2 inches (248 cm) to 8 feet 4 inches (254 cm) tall, however true and undeniable skeletal evidence pitches him at just over 7 feet 7 inches….Although Charles Byrne was 22 years old when he died, radiographic images of his wrist bones showed that the epiphyses were not yet fused. His “bone age” was estimated to be only about 17, indicating that he was still growing at the time of death.”

The last resource I wanted to use HeightQuest.Com Again because Tyler does talk in a few articles about the fact that Gigantism and Pituitary tumors are not as simple as made to believe to the public.

FULL CRITICAL ANALYSIS: Like most of the general public my view point for gigantism was always very simple. The way gigantism and suspiciously tall humans happen is very logical and sequential.

1. The gigantism is from a benign or malignant tumor that has grown to a certain size to push against he pituitary gland at a region to cause excess release of HGH.

2. The HGH gets released to the liver which creates IGF-1 which runs gets distributed by the blood stream and causes any areas of the body like cartilage to start accelerated cell divions thus the bones and body of the person gets bigger in all dimension.

3. It does NOT matter whether the person was past puberty or before puberty. As long as the pituitary gland can release excess HGH, the human body will find a way to grow even by height. My old theory on how a post-puberty adult person with completely fused growth plates grew was that the IGF-1 reached the cartilage on the ends of their synovial joints and caused chondrocyte proliferation there. You can read up on that theory/ idea in my previous post found HERE.

4. The condition people have before growth plate closure is called Gigantism. The condition people have after growth plate closure is Acromegaly. It does not matter whether a person has Gigantism or Acromegaly, they will increase in height in both cases. So growth plate closure does not inhibit continual height increase.

5. As long as person has a pituitary gland that can release excess HGH, their body will find a way to grow in size, and height.

The issue now is that the case of Charles Byrne puts some of my deepest beliefs and ideas on how height work into question. The first problem I had with it was when the article stated the phrase “researchers have now figured out the reason for his excessive height” . For me, I didn’t think that scientist needed another reason to explain his height because his height can already be explain by the fact that he had a pituitary tumor problem, so he was just another pituitary giant. End of story. I didn’t understand why scientists and geneticists felt the need to look for another reason for his height. Didn’t the fact that an old surgeon state that he suffered a pituitary gland problem be good enough to explain his gigantism??

That was where I was coming from. Well it turns out that the situation is not that simple.

First, Bryne apparently has a genetic propensity to develop a pituitary condition causing gigantism. The researchers had found two twin brothers who were related to Byrne who also developed into giants, from gigantism. There is actually a genetic mutation in the AIP gene to cause this condition of pituitary gland disorder and gigantism to be far more prevalent. Byrne had it and his blood relatives throughout  the centuries also have it and a modern distant relative developed acromegaly. This is the first complication.

Second, on the Tallest Man’s Website, they showed that Byrne was reported in height upwards of 8′ 4″ but his skeleton measures 7′ 7″ , still a very amazing height. He died when he was 22 but X-Rays show that his growth plates were still there and that his plates indicated he was growing like a 17 year old. This excerpt challenged two beliefs I had always had.

Belief 1 – Pituitary giants even though they have the pituitary gland problem should not be able to also influence their growth plates and the rate at which the growth plates go through senescence.

Belief 2- Pituitary giants have the same age range for growth plate evolutions as the rest of us.

It seems that Byrne not only had a pituitary gland problem and had ALSO a genetic mutation to cause him to be more likely to develop gigantism, His growth plates were also very different from the average person. Could it be that either the genetic mutation or the fact that he has a putuitary condition cause his growth plates to go through with senescence a lot slower than the average human? That would be definitely something that I have never considered, but Tyler did.

I had tried to show that with cases like Sultan Kosen and Tanya Angus that they had closed growth plate because they were in their 20s or late teens when they started to go through their growth spurt. Tanya grew from 5′ 8″ to 6′ 11″ from age 18-30. Kosen grew from 8′ 1″ to 8′ 3″ from 27-29.

This just shows that Pituitary giants like Byrne , Kosen, and Angus may be even more unique than the ordinary pituitary giant (or the other possibility is that all or most pituitary giants have this skill and potential). I do note that Byrne did not start go through his massive growth spurt when he was in his adult years, but that he suffered from gigantism so he went through his massive growth spurt as a child with growth plates still open.

If this new case proves that having either the genetic mutation or pituitary condition can actually have an affect on the  rate of senescence of the growth plates in the individual, then my previous theory is wrong and that humans may NOT actually be able to grow taller naturally after puberty after all. My idea was that with enough HGH released into the body, the articular cartilage was what took over the height increase growth.

I decided not to write about the findings found by Tyler since this article post is getting quite long so I will save the discussion of the relationship between gigantism , pituitary giants, and gene mutations from the articles I found on HeightQuest for another time. That post will be very interesting so I can compare old and new theories to see which one makes more sense.

I think this review will be a lot easier and simpler than my previous reviews. The HeightMax product was marketed by Sunny Health Nutrition Technology & Products, Inc. The owner was Sunny Sia.

It is quite obvious from the get go that this product is product that doesn’t work. If you want to see all the other online websites that state that the HeightMax product is a scam, just click on the 5 links below. There was at least another 20 links and website all stating the same thing, that this product is a scam.

1. HeightMax Wikipedia Article

2. FTC Website – official complaint filing by the FTC at the US District Court in Tampa, Florida

3. ScamSafe

4. NutraIngredients

5. TrustOn

This is the section on the FTC complaint filing done on Sunny Health Nutrition Technology & Products, Inc.

Federal Trade Commission enforcement action

On or about November 21, 2006, the Federal Trade Commission filed a complaint against Sunny Health Nutrition Technology & Products, Inc. and its owner, Sunny Sia, charging the defendants with making false and unsubstantiated claims for HeightMax Concentrate and HeightMax Plus, as well as for two other supplements, Liposan Ultra Chitosan Fat Blocker and Osteo-Vite.

The Federal Trade Commission complaint charged that claims for the pills were unsubstantiated or false and that the defendants invented William Thomson, a supposed expert who appeared in theadvertisements. According to the complaint, the advertisements for HeightMax Concentrate and HeightMax Plus misrepresented that:

• HeightMax increases height in users ages 12-25 over what they would achieve without the product;
• HeightMax causes users to grow an additional 2 to 3 inches in 6 months;
• Clinical tests prove that: (i) HeightMax increases the height of teenagers and young adults; and (ii) regular use of HeightMax for 6 months causes a 10% to 25% gain in height, and use for more than a year causes a 20% to 35% gain in height;
• HeightMax increases lean body mass and reduces body fat in users ages 12-25; and
• William Thomson, an expert with a Ph.D. in Biochemistry, created HeightMax after years of research and clinical trials.

The Federal Trade Commission complaint also alleged that the defendants made unsubstantiated or false claims for Liposan Ultra Chitosan Fat Blocker, a weight loss supplement, and Osteo-Vite, marketed to older consumers for bone-building.

To settle the charges, defendants Sunny Health Nutrition Technology & Products, Inc. and its owner, Sunny Sia, agreed to pay $375,000 in consumer redress. The settlement also holds the defendants potentially liable for $1.9 million in the event that they misrepresented their finances. The order to settle the FTC’s charges requires that claims for any dietary supplement, food, or drug must be true, non-misleading, and substantiated. In addition, it prohibits the defendants from misrepresenting endorsements, including the existence or expertise of any endorser.

On November 30, 2006 the Honorable Susan C. Bucklew, Federal District Court Judge, signed a Stipulated Judgment requiring defendants to pay $375,000 based on the accuracy of sworn financial statements. The Judgment included an avalanche clause, requiring payment of full redress for $1.9 million if the financial statements were not accurate.

On April 24, 2007, the FTC announced that the defendants shall be required to pay the full $1.9 Million after hidden assets were discovered. In the settlement, the $1.6 million balance of the judgment was suspended based on sworn financial disclosure documents showing inability to pay. Shortly after that settlement, the FTC discovered that the defendants kept at least $1.8 million in an undisclosed PayPal account. The FTC immediately obtained a temporary restraining order to freeze the funds, which was granted on December 8, 2006. The defendants have been ordered to pay the entire $1.9 million.

Judge Bucklew’s new order, signed on February 22, 2007, and agreed to by the defendants, requires them to pay the entire $1.9 million, using the funds in the account at PayPal and other sources if necessary. The conduct prohibitions from the previously entered order remain unchanged. The FTC will set up a refund program for HeightMax purchasers, using the money collected.

I have gotten into contact with MiniGolf/ Tyler of HeightQuest.Com and he gave me two leads or methods to pursue and look into. One idea/method is the Joint Loading Modality developed by Hiroki Yokota and the other is the idea/method of Growth Plate Regeneration developed by Robert Ballock. I wanted to focus all of my attention on the Joint Loading Modality idea for this post.

The first link I get taken to after typing in the words “Yokota’s Joint Loading Modality” into google is an article or PDF that which appears on a site called “China Osteoporosis Forum”  .You an also find it by clicking on the link HERE. The title of the paper is ” Osteogenic potentials with joint-loading modality’. I am going to look over the article, figure out what they are talking about, and explain it in a language which the average person can understand. My education background is in Chemistry and Engineering but I do like the Medical Sciences (but not enough to want to go to medical school!) so I think I am capable of stripping down the article and explain it in the most important parts.

My approach is NOT to read the entire thing, but to read only the abstract, the introduction, and the discussion and conclusion. That should definitely be enough to understand 90% of all the stuff and central themes the research experiment is talking about. I understand as a former engineer that in all specialized high education fields, each field has its own lingo, and terms, and medicine is quite possibly the most notorious. (If you have ever watched even 1 episode of the TV show ER you would know what I am talking about)

Summary: The idea of the experiment was to test to see what would happen to a mouse’s forearm bone (the ulna) if the experimenters put the forearm in a clamping device that squeezes the arm in a horizontal direction. The squeeze or loading is applied on the upper end of the lower forearm aka the proximal end. This end is the end that is closest to the elbow. while is was originally believed that a force or load of up to 1000 microNewtons (a Newton is the basic unit of force) is needed to create any bone deformation or bone formation, the experimenters really only used 30 microNetons, and the force was not a constant force but was sinusoidal so the compression was moving up and down in s way that creates a frequency. The strain was also calculated using Mechanics of Materials definition (delXdiff/delX)

The compression was done with the bones still inside the arm, surrounded by muscles and ligaments. The place the force was applied was at the very end of the long bone (ulna) at the proximal end. Only the right arm was compressed so that the result could be compared to the left arm which had nothing done to it.

Three distances of the main bone part (called diaphysis) was used as measurement places.The results showed that after just 0.5 Newtons (this is the maximum load before decreasing) at a 2 Hz for 3 minutes a day for 3 days increased the mineral- izing surface (two- to threefold), the rate of mineral apposi- tion (three- to fivefold), and the rate of bone formation (six- to eightfold) in the ulna. That means the bones grew in thickness, volume, and length. The length means that the ulna somehow increased in length. The difference of the loading is checking by putting two electric nodes at difference distances up the mouse’s forearm and measuring the voltage/ potential drop. The potentials show that the interstitial fluid flow was increased through the cortical and other type of bone as a way to react to the loading. The correlation of the interstitial fluid increase flow and the potentials to the increasing loading was almost at r^2=1.

Conclusion: This was the first scientific article I had to review and it was a pain. The main point is that if you apply enough a strong force to the ends of a the long bones next to the elbow or knee, there is a chance that the result is increased interstitial fluid flow to the ends of the lone bone which will lead to new bone formation in thickness and length. One obviously wants to translate these results to humans to see if their long bones will grow doing this method but that will be hard to do since very few humans will allow someone to put a compressive loading on their bones since the muscle and ligaments will be also compressed and pain will be felt. Theoretically we could move the sinusoidal compression load up by 10 times to 5 Newtons, and see what happens.