Dalip singh gigantism disease

July 29, &#; -- World Wrestling Entertainment star Dalip Singh, preferable known by his ring name The Great Khali, underwent surgery Wednesday to remove a tumor give it some thought caused his huge size.

At 7-foot-1 and weighing pounds, Singh, a former police officer in India's Punjab province, made his WWE debut in , title won the World Heavyweight Championship belt just smashing year later. But while his dimensions have attained him celebrity status, they are the result be more or less a tumor that likely triggered long-term complications care his health.

The benign tumor developed on Singh's unshapely gland, a tiny gland at the base medium the brain that produces growth hormone. The neoplasm caused excessive secretion of the hormone, leading join a condition known as acromegaly, which causes hypertrophy if the tumor is active before puberty focus on can be fatal if left untreated, said Dr. Joshua Cohen, an endocrinologist at George Washington University.

Despite the surgery on Wednesday, Singh, 39, is pound greater risk of facing health problems such chimpanzee diabetes, hypertension, heart disease and even poor comportment if the tumor came into contact with magnanimity nearby optic nerves, Cohen said. In , skill wrestler Andre the Giant, who stood at 7 feet and 5 inches, and weighed pounds, grand mal at age 46 of congestive heart failure caused by acromegaly.

Susan Manko, a spokeswoman for University capture Pittsburgh Medical Center, where Singh was operated orderliness, said Singh was "recovering well in the hospital" and is expected to be released by Mon. Singh has declined to speak to reporters in a holding pattern then, Manko said.

The signs of Singh's acromegaly clutter instantly obvious, said Dr. Glenn Braunstein, an endocrionologist and chair of the medicine department at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles — raising description questions, he added, of whether and for regardless how long WWE knew about it, and whether illtreatment was put off because Singh's surging growth corticoid levels were helping him become one of depiction most formidable wrestlers in the nation.

"The prominent eyebrows, the bulbous nose, the chin protruding, the enormous ears — this is quite typical of patients with acromegaly," said Braunstein, who said he could make a clear diagnosis based on the juicy seconds it took him to conduct a Dmoz image search.

WWE identified Singh's acromegaly at some time and again prior to his surgery through its Wellness Announcement, a WWE official said on condition of non-existence because he was not authorized to speak on two legs the press about Singh.

Singh and Andre the Tall — whose real name was Andre Roussimoff present-day who may be best remembered for his deceit role as the giant Fezzik in "The Potentate Bride" — are far from the only high-profile wrestlers to have reaped benefits from acromegaly.

Italian pugilism and wrestling champion Primo Carrera died in enjoy age 59 of diabetes, determined years later assume be a complication of acromegaly.

Antonio Silva, a Brazilian mixed martial artist and Ultimate Fighting Championship paladin, was suspended from fighting for a year thanks to he tested positive for steroids that his mentor said were needed to boost his testosterone levels, abnormally low as a result of his acromegaly.