We all know that there are Pygmies. But is there any group of people taller than the average, as the Pygmies are shorter?

The answer is no. Height varies throughout the world. Some peoples, such as the Eskimos, Lapps, and certain Indian Tribes in South America are short. Some of the native tribes of eastern Africa have an average height of 1.8 meters or more. But they are not giants.

In fact, giants seem to have existed only in myths and folklore. In many parts of Europe and Asia, there are legends of giants who existed in ancient times. But there is no scientific evidence that such people ever actually existed.

Yet we all know of giants who appear in circuses and side shows. How did they get to be so tall? Unfortunately, these are usually people who are suffering from an abnormal condition of their bodies. In most cases, it is a disturbance of one of the most important glands of the body, the pituitary.

The pituitary gland regulates the functioning and growth of many organs. Sometimes it develops a tumor which makes the gland larger. This larger gland then begins to produce too many of the hormones which are the secretion of this gland. One of these hormones is the growth hormone, which has an effect on the size of the organs and skeleton of the body.

When too much of this hormone is produced while the bones are still in the process of growing, they will continue to grow. Such a person might then reach 2.4 meters tall. This condition is known as giantism. But such a person is a giant only because something went wrong with his body.