Acromegaly a sad disease,....

Marie5656

Marie5656

SF VIP
Location
Batavia, NY
I enjoy watching videos where I can learn about things I have never heard of before. I found a disease called Acromegaly, which is a disease found in the pituary glands. Causing abnormal growth..and disfigurement especially in face and hands. Some famous people with it have been Andre the Giant, the actor who played Lurch on Addams Family and others. I first learned of it in this video..about a woman at the turn of the 20th century who, because of her facial deformity, was a part of circus dubbed The Ugliest Woman alive. Sad story. I think Lincoln as well
Symptoms of acromegaly include an enlarged face and hands. Changes to the face may cause the brow bone and lower jaw to protrude, and the nose and lips to get larger. Acromegaly is a hormonal disorder that develops when your pituitary gland produces too much growth hormone during adulthood.

 

Besides abnormal height, Acromegaly also sometimes causes heart disease & diabetes & a shorter life span.
Other famous people with it:
Fred Gwynne (Herman Munster)
Tony Robbins
Paul Benedict (Englishman on The Jeffersons)
Richard Kiel (Kanamit on "The Twilight Zone" & "Club" on "Pale Rider")
Sergei Rachmaninoff (one of my favorite composers)
 
win231 said:
Besides abnormal height, Acromegaly also sometimes causes heart disease & diabetes & a shorter life span.
Other famous people with it:
Fred Gwynne (Herman Munster)
Tony Robbins
Paul Benedict (Englishman on The Jeffersons)
Richard Kiel (Kanamit on "The Twilight Zone" & "Club" on "Pale Rider")
Sergei Rachmaninoff (one of my favorite composers)
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totally off-topic; Just want to say, you're a very fine pianist, win! I watched a few of your videos.

I've never been a Rachmaninoff fan, but maybe I don't know enough about his music to appreciate it. I like Liszt and Mozart.
 
We had an employee who had Acromegaly.It had been treated (surgery?meds?,I have no idea) before he worked for us. I remember him saying his sister in law had recognized that he had it-she was a physician,and coincidentally a close childhood friend of my sister.So I had known her since Kindergarten as well.

Anyway,he worked for us for about 20 years and there was no progression of his condition,as far as I could tell,during that time. He is in his 60s now and still living as far as I know-hubby still keeps in touch with a couple of our guys and they would have told him if he was no longer around.

He did look almost exactly like the woman pictured above,minus the bags under the eyes.
 
Murrmurr said:
totally off-topic; Just want to say, you're a very fine pianist, win! I watched a few of your videos.

I've never been a Rachmaninoff fan, but maybe I don't know enough about his music to appreciate it. I like Liszt and Mozart.
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Thank you.
 
Murrmurr said:
totally off-topic; Just want to say, you're a very fine pianist, win! I watched a few of your videos.

I've never been a Rachmaninoff fan, but maybe I don't know enough about his music to appreciate it. I like Liszt and Mozart.
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Some people who have heard that C-Sharp Minor Prelude have told me, "It's a very dark, angry piece."
I say, "Well he had good reason; he not only had Acromegaly, he also had Marfan Syndrome - which causes excess connective tissue between the fingers & toes & also abnormally long fingers. He wrote for HIS hands; not normal hands. That's why his compositions are difficult. I had to do lots of finger stretching when I learned that Prelude at 10 yrs. At that age, my hands weren't full size yet & I had to break up some of those crazy chords.
Sergei Rachmaninov
 
win231 said:
Some people who have heard that C-Sharp Minor Prelude have told me, "It's a very dark, angry piece."
I say, "Well he had good reason; he not only had Acromegaly, he also had Marfan Syndrome - which causes excess connective tissue between the fingers & toes & also abnormally long fingers. He wrote for HIS hands; not normal hands. That's why his compositions are difficult. I had to do lots of finger stretching when I learned that Prelude at 10 yrs. At that age, my hands weren't full size yet & I had to break up some of those crazy chords.
Sergei Rachmaninov
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Didn't Van Cliburn have unusually long fingers and problems in his hands as well? I think I remember my grandfather telling me that. Gramps was totally into classical music, especially piano concertos (but especially German composers).

Did you make a video of yourself playing that C-Sharp Minor Prelude?
 
win231 said:
Some people who have heard that C-Sharp Minor Prelude have told me, "It's a very dark, angry piece."
I say, "Well he had good reason; he not only had Acromegaly, he also had Marfan Syndrome - which causes excess connective tissue between the fingers & toes & also abnormally long fingers. He wrote for HIS hands; not normal hands. That's why his compositions are difficult. I had to do lots of finger stretching when I learned that Prelude at 10 yrs. At that age, my hands weren't full size yet & I had to break up some of those crazy chords.
Sergei Rachmaninov
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That's not a typo, you learned it at 10 YEARS OLD?!?
 
Murrmurr said:
Didn't Van Cliburn have unusually long fingers and problems in his hands as well? I think I remember my grandfather telling me that. Gramps was totally into classical music, especially piano concertos (but especially German composers).

Did you make a video of yourself playing that C-Sharp Minor Prelude?
Click to expand...
 
JaniceM said:
That's not a typo, you learned it at 10 YEARS OLD?!?
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LOL. I still chuckle when I remember playing it at the Braille Institute when I was 10. A bunch of people in the audience went up to the stage & asked to feel my hands. I asked, "Why?" One guy said "We want to count your fingers because we think you have more than 10." ROFLOL!!
 
Murrmurr said:
Didn't Van Cliburn have unusually long fingers and problems in his hands as well? I think I remember my grandfather telling me that. Gramps was totally into classical music, especially piano concertos (but especially German composers).

Did you make a video of yourself playing that C-Sharp Minor Prelude?
Click to expand...
Yes, Van Cliburn was tall & had large hands. So did Vladmir Horowitz; in fact, he was sometimes criticized for playing with flat fingers. He had to.
 

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