• Question: how can you get taller really quickly ?

    Asked by zuhra11 to Chris, Emily, Martin, Natalie, Tamsin on 22 Mar 2010 in Categories: .
    • Photo: Martin Coath

      Martin Coath answered on 22 Mar 2010:


      It does happen that people seem to ZOOM up!

      This happens roughly between ages 8 and 18, with girls getting going before boys usually. Anyway the answer has to do with hormones.

      Hormones are just chemicals that are used to carry signals around the body. These are produced in different amounts at different times in your life.

      Your body responds to growth hormones by just doing all the usual growing things faster. There might be a good reason why we don’t grow at the same, steady, rate until we reach our maximum height but I will have to ask a biologist because this is not my area of expertise!

      I heard an interview with Sigourney Weaver (famous movie actress) who was 6 feet tall (1.82m) and had size 9 feet when she started secondary school!

    • Photo: Emily Cook

      Emily Cook answered on 22 Mar 2010:


      Your growth is controlled by hormones in your body.

      In puberty testosterone prompts your body to grow. Other hormones like those produced in the pituitatry gland also play a part. I once read an article about a boy who had a tumour in his pituitary gland so kept growing and growing til he was over 7 foot tall.

      The other important thing is food. You need to eat enough calcium so your bones grow strong, as well as protein which is important for growth.

    • Photo: Natalie Stanford

      Natalie Stanford answered on 22 Mar 2010:


      I have no idea. If you ever find out let me know, I could do with being a bit taller myself!

    • Photo: Chris Cooper

      Chris Cooper answered on 22 Mar 2010:


      You can’t unless you inject human growth hormone when you are young. Not advisable as you will be end up completely misshapen and unhealthy.

      Elite athletes do take human growth hormone (originally purified from dead bodies, but now made by genetic techniques in bacteria). As they are full grown this does not affect their height, but it is supposed to have some effect on improving muscle growth. The idea is that taking growth hormone is like steroids, but without the side effects. Marion Jones – the US sprinter – is probably the most famous person to admit to this. Whether it actually helps or not is currently controversial. It is however banned by all sports.

      So – a clear case of don’t try this at home. Unless of course you have a clinical condition where you are not producing enough hormone and your doctor will therefore proscribe some to get you to your “normal” height. Fortunately this is a very rare condition.

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