Acromegaly / gigantism

waltky · Jan 16, 2013

Gigantism ends in death for 34 year old woman...

Vegas woman who couldn't stop growing dies at 34
Wednesday, January 16, 2013 As a teenager growing up in Las Vegas, Tanya Angus strutted along fashion runways. She was 5 feet 8 inches tall.

But at the time of her death Monday, the 34-year-old Angus stood 7 feet 2 inches and weighed about 400 pounds. She was a victim of a rare disorder called acromegaly that wouldn't let her stop growing. In children the condition is known as gigantism. "'Mom, I don't know why I got it,'" Karen Strutynski recalled her daughter saying. "'But I guess God decided that I could handle it.'" Handle it she did by appearing on television specials and in the news, and talking about the condition that left her face misshapen and gave her chronic growing pains. Her condition was the result of the release of too much growth hormone caused by a non-cancerous tumor on her pituitary gland.

This photo provided by Tina Valle shows Tanya Angus before contracting her growth disease, in 1999. As a teenager growing up in Las Vegas, Angus strutted along fashion runways. She was 5 feet 8 inches tall. But at the time of her death Jan. 14, 2013, the 34-year-old Angus stood 7 feet 2 inches and weighed about 400 pounds. She was a victim of a rare disorder called acromegaly that wouldn't let her stop growing. In children the condition is known as gigantism.

The disorder affected just about everything for Angus. She couldn't pull even the largest of shirts over her head, because she couldn't fit through the collar. She needed specially made shoes, and jewelers stretched her rings to size 20. "There's nothing made for giants," her mother explained. Some people judged her daughter, Strutynski said, believing she used a wheelchair because she lacked the discipline to keep her weight down. What they didn't know is that she ate one meal a day, and her medications caused her face to swell, her mother said. "People were very cruel until she went into the media," Strutynski said.

After television appearances, Angus became an advocate for those with the disease, corresponding with people from some 60 countries to help them. She saw her mission as helping others get diagnosed before it was too late and the disease got out of control, her mother said. An autopsy is pending, but Strutynski said it appears Angus died after catching a cold and developing a tear in her heart. Her mother plans to keep up Angus' website and continue corresponding with patients struggling to deal with the disease. "We can't let it end. It's just too important," Strutynski said, her voice cracking. "We can't just let it die with Tanya."

Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/news/medical/...-growing-dies-at-34-4196282.php#ixzz2ICQkCD8S
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Richard Powell · Feb 1, 2013

This is quite unfortunate that this sort of diseases are present in our society. On this context I want to appreciate strength of that girl so that she beard this pain and end up at age of 34 years which is too small.

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Acromegaly / gigantism

waltky Well-Known Member

Richard Powell New Member

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Acromegaly / gigantism

waltky Well-Known Member

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