Hello,
my name is Harald Oberlaender. I am short statured German teacher. Together with some other short statured people from different countries I founded the "Biomedical Growth Research Initiative" (BGRI) in March 2002.
The "Biomedical Growth Research Initiative" is an international initiative of people with various forms of short stature syndrome. Our initiative wants to support biomedical height increase research, so that a safe and effective height increase therapy will be available as soon as possible. You will find additional information concerning the concept of our initiative and the potential of biomedical height increase research on our homepage http://www.growthresearch.org
Our initiative has received three detailed research proposals and one research project idea from worldwide leading biomedical research groups at respected universities. Two research projects are based on tissue engineering, one research project is based on a medical device technology and one research project is based on gene therapy. These research projects could revolutionize the therapy of unwanted short stature in the foreseeable future. But without funding these projects won´t be realized and nothing will change.
So we are looking for a funding source in order to start the proposed research projects (we need about 250.000 dollars to start at least one research project). But without personal contacts to wealthy people this has been very difficult. So everybody, who is interested in supporting our search for interested donators or investors, please e-mail me at [email protected]
We have an updated standard contact letter, that you could use to contact wealthy (short statured) people in your home town / home country. So really everybody could help.
In fact it is now mainly in our own hands, if and when there will be a safe and effective alternative to classic limb lengthening surgery.
Of course every interested donator or investor will receive the official research proposals and he/she will be able to talk personally with the researchers and visit their laboratories before making a final funding decision.
Every donation or investment would go directly to the researchers. The "Biomedical Growth Research Initiative" doesn´t accept any money (... so we can´t be a scam ;-)
Thank you very much and best wishes
Harald Oberlaender
(Bio-)medical height increase research projects
Dear FDR101,
of course I wrote these messages on several discussion boards during the last few years, as we are looking for additional active supportes in order to make the proposed research projects a reality in the foreseeable future.
As I already said: our initiative doesn´t accept any money. Every donation or investment would go directly to the university researchers (and every investor or donator can communicate directly with these researchers and visit their university laboratory). So how can we be a scam???
Best wishes
Harald
Dear Android,
thank you very much for your ideas.
We have written a market analysis for potential investors. In this market analysis we discuss the so called "cosmetic indication" and heightism. Here is the relevant part of our market analysis:
3.1. Cosmetic indication:
The beauty industry market is considered to be one of the biggest and fastest growing markets worldwide. According to the “Economist” the worldwide market was 160 billion dollars in 2003 with an annual growth rate of up to 7% a year, more than twice the rate of the developed world's GDP (http://www.economist.com/printedition/displayStory.cfm?Story_ID=1795852 ). One of the fastest growing segments is cosmetic surgery, already a 20 billion dollar business. The number of cosmetic procedures have increased in America by over 220% since 1997. The fastest growth can be seen with minimally invasive procedures, like e.g. Botox injections with a growth rate of more than 2400% since 1997.
Height distribution:
Adult height for one sex in a particular ethnic group follows more or less a Gaussian distribution (bell curve):
[... I couldn´t copy the picture with the bell curve for this posting ...]
That means: 68% of the observations fall within 1 standard deviation of the mean.
“Out of one hundred men, about 2/3 of them, about 68 %, are between 5'6" and 5'11". About 2/3 of all American men are 5'9" ± 3". About 1/3 of them are outside this range, with about half of those on each side. So, about 1/6 are 6' or taller, and about 1/6 are 5'5" or shorter” (http://investing.calsci.com/statistics.html ). So about 16 % of the population are significantly shorter than the average (that means 3 inches shorter or more). So about 500 million men worldwide can be considered short statured.
Example USA: There are just about 100,000,000 adult men in America. Their average height is 5'9" and the standard deviation is 3". So we can predict how many of these men fall into various height categories (http://investing.calsci.com/statistics.html ):
[... I couldn´t copy the picture with the height categories for this posting ...]
Short stature often has significant social and psychological consequences:
Several academic studies have proven, that short statured men have fewer opportunities for romantic relationships, have fewer children and on average are paid less. Height hierarchies are established early and persist for a long time. In an excellent article from 1995 the respected newsmagazine “The Economist” cites several academic studies:
“Tall boys are deferred to and seen as mature, short ones ridiculed and seen as childlike. Tall men are seen as natural “leaders”; short ones are called “pushy”. “If a short man is normally assertive, then he's seen as having Napoleonic tendencies”, says David Weeks, a clinical psychologist at Royal Edinburgh Hospital. “If he is introverted and mildly submissive, then he's seen as a wimp.” ... Turn, for example, to the work of two American psychologists, Leslie Martel and Henry Biller, whose book 'Stature and Stigma' (DC Heath, 1987) is especially useful. Mr Martel and Mr Biller asked several hundred university students to rate the qualities of men of varying heights, on 17 different criteria. Both men and women, whether short or tall, thought that short men - heights between 5´2´´ and 5´5´´ - were less mature, less positive, less secure, less masculine; less successful, less capable, less confident, less outgoing; more inhibited, more timid, more passive; and so on. Other studies confirm that short men are judged, and even judge themselves, negatively. Several surveys have found that short men feel less comfortable in social settings and are less happy with their bodies. Dustin Hoffman, that 5´6´´ actor, is said to have spent years in therapy over his small stature.
The western ideal for men appears to be about 6 ´2´´ (and is slowly rising, as average heights increase). Above that height, the advantages of extra inches peter out, though very tall men do not, apart from hitting their heads, suffer significant disadvantages. And medium-sized men do fine (though they typically will say they would like to be taller, just as women always want to be thinner). The men who suffer are those who are noticeably short: say, 5´5´´ and below. In a man's world, they do not impress. Indeed, the connection between height and status is embedded in the very language. Respected men have 'stature' and are 'looked up to': quite literally, as it turns out.
One of the most elegant height experiments was reported in 1968 by an Australian psychologist, Paul Wilson. He introduced the same unfamiliar man to five groups of students, varying only the status attributed to the stranger. In one class, the newcomer was said to be a student, in another a lecturer, right up to being a professor from Cambridge University. Once the visitor had left the room, each group was asked to estimate the man's height, along with that of the instructor. The results are plotted in the chart above. Not only was the 'professor' thought to be more than two inches taller than the 'student'; the height estimates rose in proportion to his perceived status.” (http://www.shortsupport.org/News/economist_heightism.html )
Additionally height discrimination seems to be a universal constant:
“In Chinese surveys, young women always rate stature high among qualifications for a future mate. Indeed, the prejudice appears to be universal.
In the 1960s and 1970s, Thomas Gregor, an anthropologist at America's Vanderbilt University, lived among the Mehinaku, a tropical forest people of central Brazil who were amazed by such new-fangled gadgets as spectacles. … By many measures - wealth, chieftainship, frequency of participation in rituals - tall men dominate in tribal life. They hog the reproductive opportunities, too. Mr Gregor looked at the number of girlfriends of Mehinaku men of varying heights. He found a pattern: the taller the man, the more girlfriends he had. As he explained, 'the three tallest men had as many affairs as the seven shortest men, even though their average estimated ages were identical.'
He went on to note that the Trobriand Islanders of the Pacific, the Timbira of Brazil, and the Navajo of America were among the many other traditional cultures that also prize male height. 'In no case have I found a preference for short men,' he said. Among anthropologists, it is a truism that in traditional societies the 'big man' actually is big, not just socially but physically.
It is not hard to guess why human beings tend instinctively to defer to height. Humans evolved in an environment where size and strength - and good health, to which they are closely related - mattered, especially for men. Indeed, they still matter, albeit less than they did. Other things being equal, large males are more to be feared and longer-living; an impulse to defer to them, or to prefer them as mates, thus makes good evolutionary sense. Perhaps the impulse is softened in a modern industrial society. But how much? Consider six aspects of a supposedly advanced culture.
Politics. In all but three American presidential elections this century, the taller man has won. By itself this might be a coincidence. And of course some short politicians thrive (examples include France's Francois Mitterrand and Britain's Harold Wilson). But the pattern is still clear, and is also found in:
Business. A survey in 1980 found that more than half the chief executives of America's Fortune 500 companies stood six feet tall or more. As a class, these wekepei were a good 2 inches taller than average; only 3% were peritsi, 5´7´´ or less. Other surveys suggest that about 90% of chief executives are of above-average height. Similarly for:
Professional status. Looking at several professions, one study found that people in high-ranking jobs 'were about two inches taller than those down below, a pattern that held even when comparing men of like educational and socioeconomic status. Senior civil servants in Britain, for instance, tend to be taller than junior ones. Shorter people also have worse:
Jobs. Give job recruiters two invented resumes that have been carefully matched except for the candidates' height, as one study did in 1969. Fully 72% of the time, the taller man is 'hired'. And when they are hired, they tend also to earn rather more:
Money. In 1994 James Sargent and David Blanchflower, of America's Dartmouth College, analyzed a sample of about 6,000 male Britons whose progress was monitored from birth to early adulthood. Short teenaged boys made less money when they became young adults (aged 23) than their taller peers - even after other attributes, such as scores on ability tests or parents' social status, were factored out. For every four inches of height in adolescence, earnings went up more than 2% in early adulthood. Another survey, of graduates of the University of Pittsburgh, found that those who were 62' or taller received starting salaries 12% higher than those under six feet.
Not only do tall people grow richer, rich people grow taller. They enjoy well-nourished childhoods and better health. The stature-success nexus further bolsters the social preference for height. And that preference is expressed in a coin that is even more precious than money, namely:
Sex. Mating opportunities are, at least in evolutionary terms, the ultimate prize of status. And here is the final humiliation for short men. When 100 women were asked to evaluate photographs of men whom they believed to be either tall, average or short, all of them found the tall and medium specimens 'significantly more attractive' than the short ones. In another study, only two of 79 women said they would go on a date with a man shorter than themselves (the rest, on average, wanted to date a man at least 1.7 inches taller). 'The universally acknowledged cardinal rule of dating and mate selection is that the male will be significantly taller than his female partner,' write Mr Martel and Mr Biller. 'This rule is almost inviolable.' For short men, the sexual pickings are therefore likely to be slim” (http://www.shortsupport.org/News/economist_heightism.html ).
Much more information and studies concerning additional aspects of height discrimination can be found e.g. at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heightism
For most people a harmonic relationship and a satisfying job are the most important factors for self esteem and happiness in life. And these two aspects are severly influenced by height aspects. So a higly significant correlation between psychological problems (like e.g. depression and suicidal tendencies) and short stature could be found (http://ajp.psychiatryonline.org/cgi/content/full/162/7/1373). Taken together these study results prove, that height is one of the most important factors (perhaps even the most important factor) concerning male attractivity. So surely a lot of short statured men would use a safe and effective height increase therapy. Also a lot of medium-sized men would surely use this therapy, as many of them typically say, that they would like to be taller. Most probably also a lot of women would use a safe and effective height increase therapy, as long legs are considered to be the female beauty ideal.
As height discrimination is a worldwide problem, there would be a worldwide market - not only in the USA and Europe, but especially also in Asian countries, where people tend to be shorter (please see e.g. this Time-Asia-article about the boom of limb lengthening surgery in China http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,187654,00.html ). This article also emphasizes, that there are (unfair) height requirements for several jobs in China: “In a country that has hundreds of qualified applicants for every job, height minimums are one way to whittle down the competition. "You don't have to be tall to be good at computers," says Ma Xiang, a recruiter for a consortium of online companies in Beijing, which requires that female applicants be at least 1.60 m tall (the average height of Chinese women). "But it's one of the ways we can limit the number of [applications] we get."
It has to be added, that official height requirements for special jobs (e.g. policeman/policewoman, fireman, pilot) are also existing in the USA and in European countries.
Dear FDR 101,
thank you very much for editing your posting. You can be sure, that we have good intentions and that we are a small, but serious group.
Here is the current status of our initiative: In 2008 we were in contact with several well-known biomedical researchers and finally three research groups (in the USA, Canada and Hong Kong) wrote an official research proposal for us. They said, that they may be interested to use their technology platform (e.g. tissue engineering) for the indication "bone lengthening and height increase", if we gave them the necessary funds. In 2012 we received another very interesting research project idea from a German researcher concerning a gene therapy approach for height increase. After we received the research proposals we have tried to find a funding source in order to start the proposed research projects. We have contacted several venture capital companies, but most of them were not interested in the indication "height increase" and for the remaining companies the research projects were at a too early stage. Most venture capital companies prefer later-stage-projects. Additionally venture capital companies want a business plan concerning a biotech start-up company. But the proposed research projects would be done at a university for probably another 2 or 3 years. After that time a biotech start-up company would be a realistic option. As venture capital companies were not interested we started to look for business angels, plastic surgery clinics and other wealthy (short statured) people, that may have an interest to fund innovative height increase research projects. We have been in contact with some so called investors during the last few years, who promissed, that they would have the necessary funds, but unfortunately they couldn´t fulfill their promisses (I still ask myself, what the motivation of these so called investors was). Unfortunately the researchers were very disappointed after we sent them several unserious investors and they have become sceptical concerning our initiative. So we have to be very careful concerning possible donators or investors in the future. Only if we find a donator or an investor, who can prove 100%, that he has the financial power to fund research projects, we will make a contact with the researchers again. I am not sure, if all the researchers are still interested in starting the proposed research projects, but I would have some ideas concerning other research groups, who may be interested in using their research platform for the indication "height increase research". So the main problem is still the funding source. If we find a funding source, we will surely find interested research groups ("old" and maybe new research groups). More than 10 years ago there were great ideas concerning a biomedical approach for height increase and now there could be even better ideas, as e.g. bone tissue engineering has made great progress since that time.
But we urgently need additional active supporters in order to succeeed in the foreseeable future. We are currently only four active "Biomedical Growth Research Initiative" (BGRI) - members, two from Germany, one from the Netherlands and one from Spain. Additional active members from anywhere in the world would be great. We have a standard contact letter, which you could use to contact business angels or other wealthy people in your home town / home country. So it is really very easy to help us. You only need some time and a little bit motivation to search for relevant contact addresses. We would really appreciate every support!
I still believe, that modern biomedical research has the potential to create a safe and effective height increase therapy with much more advantages compared to current limb lengthening surgery.
Thank you very much and best wishes
Harald
Dear myloginacct,
unfortunately I am not allowed to reveal further details about the research projects in the internet. I had to sign strict confidentiality agreements. But if you e-mail me and also sign a confidentiality agreement, I could tell you more.
Dear The Dreamer,
thank you very much for your idea. Unfortunately we are not allowed to reveal more concrete details to the general public. But donators would of course want to know concrete details before they would donate some money. So we can´t start a small donations project. Our only hope is currently in fact a business angel, a wealthy short statured individual or a venture capital fund with interest in early stage projects. We could forward the research proposals to these people, if they also sign a confidentiality agreement.
The proposed research projects would start with animal trials. If all goes well, human trials could start within 3-4 years after the start of the research project.
Best wishes
Harald
Dear The Dreamer and FDR 101,
I am very sceptical, that a large community would be interested in donating 100 dollars. I have been talking about this project for many years and currently only three other people support me actively. Probably it will be even more difficult to find people, who want to invest money, not time.
Nevertheless: if at least 20 people on this message board would be interested in donating about 100 dollars, I will try to find a new research project, that can publish some details in the internet.
SO EVERYBODY, WHO MAY BE INTERESTED IN SUPPORTING INNOVATIVE HEIGHT INCREASE RESEARCH PROJECTS WITH A SMALL DONATION, PLEASE WRITE A SHORT MESSAGE IN THIS POSTING.
As I already said: I think, that there are several new researchers, that may be interested in using their technology platform for the indication "bone lengthening and height increase". And maybe I find a researchers, that doesn´t want to protect his ideas with confidentiality agreements. Of course the money must be given directly to the researcher. The "Biomedical Growth Research Initiative" still won´t accept small donations. This is the best way to prove, that we are a serious project and no scam.
Best regards and thank you very much for your ideas
Harald
Dear TIBIKE200,
of course it wouldn´t work with donating before getting additional information, That´s why I said, that I would have to find a researcher, who doesn´t want to protect his ideas with strict confidentiality agreements. Of course this researcher would have to explain his research project idea to the general public. Only if we find such a researcher, a small donation attempt would make sense.
Dear Body Builder,
I don´t think, that it would take so long to develop a safe and effective biomedical height increase therapy, if sufficient funding was available, e.g. the Hong Kong research proposal is based on rabbit studies with a tissue engineered growth plate implant. The bioengineered growth plate was implanted into partially damaged proximal tibial physes of adolescent rabbits. The implanted 3-D chondroycte pellet incorporated well with the host tissue with no sign of rejection. The next step would be to produce artificial growth plate in a larger size for complete growth plate reconstruction and future clinical application in humans. As there are already promissing animal studies, human clinical trials could be realistic within 3-4 years after we find a funding source.
Concerning short term possibilities I am also quite optimistic concerning spinal disc regeneration research. With some specific modifications for the indication "height increase" this could lead to a safe and effective torso lengthening method. A very interesting biotech company in this field of research is e.g. Mesoblast. They are currently doing phase 3 human clinical trials with a disc regeneration therapy: http://www.mesoblast.com/product-candidates/spine-orthopedic-disorders/chronic-discogenic-low-back-pain We haven´t contacted Mesoblast yet, but we will surely do so, if we find a funding source.
Best wishes
Harald
Dear jojo,
CRISPR is a specific form of gene therapy called gene editing, as it can edit and "repair" faulty genes. Other gene therapies work by adding a healthy gene with a gene vector (= a gene "taxi" e.g. a harmless virus or a liposome). In the past gene delivery into enough cells has been the most important obstacle. But the gene vectors have improved significantly during the last few years and now several gene therapies are approved around the world, e.g. against blood cancer ( http://www.chicagotribune.com/lifestyles/health/ct-gene-therapy-for-blood-cancer-20171018-story.html ) and against hereditary blindness ( http://ir.sparktx.com/news-releases/news-release-details/fda-approves-spark-therapeutics-luxturnatm-voretigene-neparvovec ). This is also good news for other indications, as most gene therapies have a similar principle.
Dear myloginacct,
my personal favorite is the Canadian research proposal concerning a medical device technology (probably in combination with a stretching device). The technology has already been tested in human patients for jaw and tooth growth indications. The researchers think, that the same technology has probably also the potential to grow other bones (e.g. leg bones) in adults - in the best case non-invasively. The Technology Transfer Office suggests the following way to commercialization: in the first 2 years a specific bone growth and height increase device is developed and tested in rabbits (cost: about 270.000 dollars), during the next 1,5 years the device is tested in dogs (cost: about 750.000 dollars). After that the technology could e.g. be licensed to an existing medical company, which conducts the final human trials and brings the medical device to the mass market. Seed investors would receive a significant percentage of the licensing deal with the company. The founding of a start-up company would also be an interesting option.
Best wishes
Harald
Dear The Dreamer,
it´s great, that you have obviously a lot of motivation to start a crowdfunding campaign. If I understand your postings correctly, you don´t want, that our "Biomedical Growth Research Initiative" plays a major part in this campaign. This would be O.K. for me, of course. But if you want our support and/or our advice, we will like helping!!!
FDR101 already wrote, that besides the so called "cosmetic indication" other indications would be helpful in order to attract enough donators for a crowdfunding campaign. So here are some other indication, for which a safe and effective (bio-)medical height increase therapy could be important:
- Microsomia:
This is the terminology for a body size of between 80 and 150 centimetres. Frequently a normal torso and short legs and/or arms result in proportions which are far from ideal. This can cause enormous daily restrictions when sitting or driving. These problems could be solved. The proportions of the arms and legs in relation to the torso could be corrected.
By far the most frequently diagnosed cause of short stature is achondroplasia, a genetic condition that results in disproportionately short arms and legs. The average height of adults with achondroplasia is 4'0". Other genetic conditions that result in short stature include spondyloepiphyseal dysplasia congenita (SED), diastrophic dysplasia, pseudoachondroplasia, hypochondroplasia, and osteogenesis imperfecta (OI).
According to information compiled by the Greenberg Center at Johns Hopkins Medical Center the frequency of occurrence of the most common types of dwarfism is as follows:
1. Achondroplasia (one per 26,000 to 40,000 births) – so there are about 195.000 people with achondroplasia worldwide (http://www.dwarfism.org )
2. SED (one per 95,000 births)
3. Diastrophic dysplasia (one per 110,000 births)
These conditions are essentially untreatable, although some people with achondroplasia and hypochondroplasia have undergone painful (and controversial) limb-lengthening surgery. Although achondroplasia accounts for perhaps 70-80 percent of all cases of dwarfism, there are approximately 200 diagnosed types, and some individuals with dwarfism never receive a definitive diagnosis.
- Growth problems/defects:
For example when there is a growth joint defect leading to unequal growth of the
legs. This unequal growth could be corrected.
- Amputation:
Generally speaking it causes less prosthetic problems when dealing with a longer stump. So a signifcant percentage of patients with amputated limbs could benefit.
In the United States alone, there are approximately 1.8 million people living with limb loss. It is estimated that one out of every 200 people in the U.S. has had an amputation (Adams et al. 1999). Between 1988 and 1996, there was an average of 133,735 hospital discharges for amputation per year (Dillingham et al. 2002).
Sources:
Patricia F. Adams, et al, “Current Estimates from the National Health Interview Survey, 1996,” Vital and Health Statistics 10:200 (1999).
Timothy R. Dillingham, MD, et al, “Limb Amputation and Limb Deficiency: Epidemiology and Recent Trends in the United States,” Southern Medical Journal 95 (2002): 875-83.
- Trauma:
As the result of an accident where bones or soft tissue have been seriously damaged. The limb must be shortened to ensure wound healing. This could be successfully corrected.
- The removal of tumors:
When a tumour is diagnosed extensive parts of the bone sometimes have to be removed. Currently this usually means that the leg has to be amputated above that point. If the previously removed bone could be lengthened, the patient had the chance of a fully-functional limb again.
Best wishes
Harald
Dear The Dreamer,
of course it is not so easy to convince people to donate some money (even if it is a comparatively small sum).
But I would appreciate it very much, if you would be interested in leading the development of a crowdfunding effort. Surely it would be worth the try.
Dear FDR101 and Extremis,
would you be interested in helping to start such a crowdfunding effort?
Is anyone of you brave enough to reveal his identity to the general public for this crowdfunding project? That would surely be necessary.
If yes, I will look for a promissing university research project, that could be published in the internet. As I said: I already have some ideas.
Best wishes
Harald
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