Sultan Kösen Manages Everyday Life at 2.51 Metres Tall

Sultan Kösen stands 2.51 metres (8 feet 2.8 inches) tall. The former Turkish farmer has held the Guinness World Records title for tallest living man since 2009.

A growth spurt caused by the pituitary gland

Kösen’s extraordinary height results from pituitary gigantism. Excess growth hormone, associated with a pituitary tumour, caused rapid growth beginning around age ten.

Treatment at the University of Virginia included gamma-knife surgery in 2010. Doctors later confirmed that his growth-hormone production had been controlled, stopping further growth.

Sultan Kösen during a public appearance in London.

A world designed for smaller bodies

Finding clothes, shoes, beds and vehicles that fit can be difficult. Kösen often uses a cane and needs extra space when travelling. At home, everyday objects and routines require adjustment.

He has also described advantages, including easily reaching high places and helping with tasks on his family’s farm. His record has taken him around the world and connected him with other people of extraordinary stature.

The record continues

Guinness still lists Kösen as the tallest man and tallest person living. He also holds the record for the largest hands on a living person.

The title attracts attention, but his medical treatment is the more consequential milestone: controlling the condition protected his health in a way that was not available to earlier giants such as Robert Wadlow.

The geek lesson

Kösen’s life is a story of adaptation, medicine and perspective. A spectacular measurement made him famous; managing the practical realities of that measurement is the achievement he lives every day.