nhsManagers.net | Briefing | 10 February 2018 Medicine for Managers Dr Paul Lambden BSc MB BS BDS FDSRCSEng MRCS LRCP DRCOG MHSM FRSM Well, in essence, it is all to do with your gender, what you inherit from your parents, your health status and your nutritional status. Gender. Boys and Men tend to be taller than Girls and Women. Genetics. Children inherit genes from both parents. The result is that children usually grow to a height which is somewhere between the two. However the degree of inheritance of particular genes from a particular parent means that the final height cannot accurately be predicted. In fact, at four inches, the degree of error in estimation of final height is quite wide. At a young age there are ways of predicting a child’s final height. It involves adding the parental heights (in inches), adding five inches for a boy or subtracting five inches for a girl, and dividing by two. For example: Height of father 6 ft 3in (75 inches) Height of mother 5 ft 4 in (64 inches) Total of heights 139 inches If a boy – add five inches. Total -144 inches If a girl – subtract five inches Total – 134 inches Divide by 2. If a boy: 144÷2 = 72 inches If a girl: 134÷2 = 67 inches Medicine for Managers articles are not intended to be a source of medical advice. Their purpose is to familiarise the non-medical reader about current key medical disorders. Any medical or medicinal products mentioned by name are examples only and should not be regarded as an endorsement of their use. The Long and the Short and the Tall I was musing about the subject for this week when it was provided to me by a five-year-old child. With a mischievous smile that is so characteristic of the young he said “How High is a Chinaman?”. I remembered this question from when I was his age. I looked suitably quizzical. He smiled. “Oh silly”, he said (without a hint of concern for political correctness), “that’s his name”. So, aside from the Chinaman in question, can we tell how tall someone will be?
Transcript
nhsManagers.net | Briefing | 10 February 2018
Medicine for Managers
Dr Paul Lambden BSc MB BS BDS FDSRCSEng MRCS LRCP DRCOG MHSM FRSM
Well, in essence, it is all to do with your gender, what you inherit from your parents, your health status and your nutritional status.
Gender. Boys and Men tend to be taller than Girls and Women.
Genetics. Children inherit genes from both parents. The result is that children usually grow to a height which is somewhere between the two. However the degree of inheritance of particular genes from a particular parent means that the final height cannot accurately be predicted.
In fact, at four inches, the degree of error in estimation of final height is quite wide.
At a young age there are ways of predicting a child’s final height. It
involves adding the parental heights (in inches), adding five inches for a boy or subtracting five inches for a girl, and dividing by two.
For example:
Height of father 6 ft 3in (75 inches)
Height of mother 5 ft 4 in (64 inches) Total of heights 139 inches
If a boy – add five inches. Total -144 inches If a girl – subtract five inches Total – 134 inches
Divide by 2.
If a boy: 144÷2 = 72 inches If a girl: 134÷2 = 67 inches
Medicine for Managers articles are not intended to be a source of medical advice. Their purpose is to familiarise the non-medical reader about current key medical disorders. Any medical or medicinal products mentioned by name are examples only and should not be regarded as an endorsement of their use.
The Long and the Short and the Tall I was musing about the subject for this week when it was provided to me by a five-year-old child. With a mischievous smile that is so characteristic of the young he said “How High is a Chinaman?”. I remembered this question from when I was his age. I looked suitably quizzical. He smiled. “Oh silly”, he said (without a hint of concern for political correctness), “that’s his name”. So, aside from the Chinaman in question, can we tell how tall someone will be?
Therefore the prediction is: Boy 6 ft 0 in Girl 5 ft 7 in
There is a maximum error of ±4 in.
Another similar method suggests to add the two parental heights, divide by 2 and add 2½ inches for a boy or deduct 2½ inches for a girl. Using the example above the heights would be:
Boy 139÷2+2½= 6’0” Girl 139÷2-2½ = 5’7”
Same error of plus or minus four inches.
This is, of course, no surprise. Two children, inheriting from the same gene pool, with the same environment and nutritional standards, may grow to very different heights.
Children’s growth is generally fairly predictable.
They increase in height (length) by about fourteen inches (65 cm) in the first two years and then by about 2½ inches per year until puberty.
During the puberty phase there is a growth spurt which may be as much as
five inches in a year but is more commonly about three inches a year.
Health
Although the blueprint for growth is established within the genetic code, the growth and ultimate height can be influenced by the general state of health of the growing child.
There are a number of diseases and illnesses which may result in growth
disturbances. Causes of short stature • hormone disorders such as oHypothyroidism oHuman Growth Hormone Deficiency oAchondroplasia oDisorders of bone
• Diseases of the bowel, such as coeliac disease, may result in the final height being reduced.
• Malnutrition, which may result in the individual being underweight, malnourished or emaciated but it does not tend to result in short height.
• Drug effects. Medication used to treat some childhood illnesses, including such drugs as steroids, may adversely affect growth.
Medicine for Managers articles are not intended to be a source of medical advice. Their purpose is to familiarise the non-medical reader about current key medical disorders. Any medical or medicinal products mentioned by name are examples only and should not be regarded as an endorsement of their use.
Causes of increased stature may include:
• Endocrine causes o Disorders of growth
hormone. Most commonly associated with a childhood tumour, it may result in gigantism. If it occurs after puberty it is called acromegaly.
o Disturbances of puberty with sex hormone changes
o Hyperthyroidism
• Chromosome abnormalities o Abnormal chromosome
numbers o Marfan’s syndrome. It
affects human connective tissue resulting in long slender limbs, fingers and
toes. There are also other skeletal disorders and problems with the cardiovascular system, eyes, lungs and nervous system.
These days, better diagnosis, treatment and management has resulted in much better control of diseases and disorders with less impact on growth and, in conditions such as Marfan’s syndrome, improvement in life expectancy.
So overall, prediction of growth is not reliable, influenced by a range of factors and part of the rich diversity of humanity. [email protected]
Medicine for Managers articles are not intended to be a source of medical advice. Their purpose is to familiarise the non-medical reader about current key medical disorders. Any medical or medicinal products mentioned by name are examples only and should not be regarded as an endorsement of their use.
