Mitchell

Kate Mitchell MWF 8:00 8:50

Human Variation in Growth

As long as there has been human life there has been a search for whom an what we are! thoughts such as where o we come from to where are we going ha"e been at the forefront of science an research in human biological "ariation# When $o$ulaces share genomic bac%groun an ecological factors& a"erage height is habituall' characteristic within the collection of the grou$# (emar%able height issimilarit' within such a $o$ulation is occasionall' ue to gigantism or warfism& which are me icinal con itions cause b' $recise genes or en ocrine anomalies# )n this $a$er human "ariation& s$ecificall' height will be eliberate & then will co"er the $ro igalit' of height& warfism an gigantism# *o conclu e& we will en ea"or to gauge where we are in the un erstan ing of human "ariation# *here are numerous factors that interrelate to efine human height# *he two $re ominant factors are genetics an en"ironmental effects# *he +uestion man' are as%ing is ,What effects o genetics an en"ironmental $la' in etermining height-. *he stu ies "ar' but as little as si/t' $ercent to as much as eight' $ercent of height is a $ro uct of genetics# *his lea"es as much as fort' $ercent to as little as twent' $ercent of height as en"ironment in uce 01hao& 20053# 4sing the conce$t of heritabilit'& the im$act of genetics on a gi"en in i"i ual height can be etermine # Heritabilit' is efine b' Merriam Webster as ,the $ro$ortion of obser"e "ariation in a $articular trait 0such as height3 that can be attribute to inherite in contrast to en"ironmental ones.0Webster3# 5o if there is a male that is 675 cm an a female that is 650cm& an both are

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from a $o$ulation where the a"erage male is 685 cm an the a"erage female is 655 cm& the heritabilit' can be $re icte as long as we %now the heritabilit' factor 0for this $o$ulation it is 75 $ercent for males an 70 $ercent for females3# )f a male chil is concei"e & the heritabilit' is e+ual to 0#75 / 068596753 : 65596503;2 gi"ing us an e/$ecte height without the influence of en"ironmental factors# 5ome en"ironmental factors that influence height are iet& culture an atmos$here# Wealthier countries con"ersel' ha"e better iets 0as far as access to foo "ariet'& this oes not mean that the' utili<e it3 an the o$$osite is true# =rotein inta%e has been lin%e to height# Atmos$here is a $ro uct of how $ollute an en"ironment is# =ollution can affect $lant an animal growth which are use as fuel# For the $ur$ose of this $a$er the $rimar' focus will be genetics& an more s$ecificall' on the effects of human growth hormone# *he assum$tion that an e/cess of human growth hormone woul increase height an a lac% of human growth hormone coul result in ecrease height is basicall' true# *he =ituitar' glan is i"i e into an anterior an $osterior lobe# *he anterior lobe& closel' associate the h'$othalamus& a section of the brain# *he $ituitar' glan secretes& among man' other hormones& growth hormone& this hormone is the most abun ant# )t $la's a $i"otal role in growth& influencing linear bone growth# Growth hormone le"els are highest in chil hoo & s$i%ing uring $ubert'& then began stea il' to ecline into a ulthoo # Growth hormone wor%s b' bin ing to GH rece$tor molecules& which then began a series of reactions that result in the biological effects characteri<e b' Growth hormone secretion& or lac% thereof# *his brings us to a iscussion of the e/tremes# *oo much growth hormone can lea to e/cess height# Gigantism is a con ition which has e/cessi"e height as its main s'm$tom# Height is i"i e into sections such as before two 'ears of age& $re9$ubert'& an then the final $ush at $ubert'# )t has been establishe that a $erson that

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is more than two stan ar

e"iations abo"e the height of a com$arable grou$ which inclu es se/&

age& an ethnicit' are thought to ha"e attributes lea ing to gigantism# >/cessi"e height brings along a certain $ossibilit' of illness an isease since it is cause $re ominantl' b' abnormal

hormone secretion# ?ne of the most common reasons for e/cessi"e growth hormone release comes from a benign tumor of the $ituitar' glan # Wea%ness& ouble "ision& ela'e $ubert'& e/cessi"e sweating& as well as irregular $erio s in women# A M() or 1* scan as well as bloo tests can be use as iagnosis# *oo little growth hormone secretion can lea to $aucit' in height# *his is often referre to as warfism# Growth hormone eficienc' is one of se"eral hun re reasons for warfism& which is efine as height of less than @ feet& ten inches tall in a ulthoo # Which itself has se"eral ifferent "ariations# )f it is notice earlier an it can be treate with growth hormone inAections# 4nfortunatel'& in i"i uals with warfism are beset with a large amount of illness which unfortunatel' is be'on the sco$e of the current subAect# Human "ariation is the s$ice of life# From Men el to Mc1lintoc%& researchers ha"e alwa's ta%en an interest in the genetics of all life# *his subAect ealt with human "ariation as it relates to height# *he research e/amine one of man' causes of e/treme "ariation# We ha"e ma$$e the human genome so there ma' one a' be that e/tremes in height will be a thing of the $ast#

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Wor%s91ite A'u%& B& an M 1# 5he$ar # C(e"iew Growth hormone an its isor ers#C Postgrad Medical Journal 82#D7E 020053: 2@9E0# Web# 68 Fo"# 206E# Ghtt$:;;$mA#bmA#com;content;82;D7E;2@#fullH# Iiswas& Arun hati& an A# Falini# C5otos s'n rome: An interesting isor er with gigantism#C Annals of Indian Academy of Neurology 66#E 020083: 6D0# General OneFile# Web# 68 Fo"# 206E# 1hao& Jr# Kiang Lai# CHow much of human height is genetic an how much is ue to nutrition- #C Scientific American# 4#5# Je$artment of Agriculture& 66 Jec# 2007# Web# 68 Fo"# 206E# Ghtt$:;;www#scientificamerican#com;article#cfm-i Mhow9much9of9human9heightH# Hiller95turmh N fel& 5usanne& an An r<eA Iart%e&# C*he >n ocrine 5'stem#C NIH# F)H& n# # Web# 68 Fo"# 206E# Ghtt$:;;$ubs#niaaa#nih#go";$ublications;arh229E;65E#$ fH# htt$:;;www#merriam9webster#com; ictionar';heritabilit' Killinger& O en%o& et al# C?steoarticular changes in acromegal'#C International Journal of Endocrinology 020623# Academic OneFile# Web# 68 Fo"# 206Ehtt$:;;go#galegrou$#com;$s;i# oi MGAL> P81AE6E807E75Q"M2#6QuMtelRsRtslaQitMrQ$MA?F>QswMwQasi M08e0b 262c88a66 D5E8 5Ea e8caccEb (ogol& Alan J#& =amela A 1lar%& an Alan J (ogol& BamesF# (oemmich# CGrowth an $ubertal e"elo$ment in chil ren an a olescents: effects of iet an $h'sical acti"it'6&2&E&@#C American Journal for Clinical Nutrition 82#2: 526928# Web# 68 Fo"# 206E# Ghtt$:;;aAcn#nutrition#org;content;82;2;526s#fullSref9list96H# C5cientists at 4ni"ersit' of ?%a'ama Jiscuss (esearch in Jwarfism#C Obesity Fitness ! "ellness "ee# 2@ 5e$t# 2066: 2806# Academic OneFile# Web# 68 Fo"# 206E# Tu L& Tu 1& Uu 1& Miao M& Ohang T& et al# 020623 Association between 5erum Growth Hormone Le"els an Fonalcoholic Fatt' Li"er Jisease: A 1ross95ectional 5tu '# =L?5 ?F> 8083: e@@6E7# oi:60#6E86;Aournal#$one#00@@6E7