World's tallest man reaches his peak as scientists discover way to stop 8ft 3in giant from growing

The world's tallest man may have finally stopped growing at a towering 8ft 3ins thanks to a pioneering new treatment.

Turkish farm labourer Sultan Kosen, 29, suffers from the rare disorder acromegaly which causes his body to continually produce the growth hormone.



Mr Kosen's condition was thought to have been caused by a tumor in the pituitary gland which is located in bottom of the hypothalamus at the base of the brain.



Tall order: Doctors at the University of Virginia have developed a treatment for the world's tallest man Sultan Kosen which they say has finally stopped him growing at 8ft 3ins

Doctors though they had cured him in 2008 when they removed the tumour but he continued to grow at a rate of half and inch a year.

But researchers at the University of Virginia Medical Center, who have developed a new treatment after he visited in 2010, say he has finally stopped growing.

Gentle giant: Mr Kosen, meets schoolchildren in San Clemente. Doctors thought they had cured him in 2008 after removing a tumour in his pituitary gland but he continued to grow at a rate of half an inch a year

Mr Kosen's hands measure 10.8in across and his feet are 13.7in long - which are also world records.

The farmer, who wears size 28 shoes, is one of only ten people ever to top 8ft and the first in a decade.

The gentle giant grew normally until he was ten but the tumour then caused him to develop the medical condition.

Size 28: Mr Kosen's feet are 13.7in long another world record

When other children were little more than 4ft, he was already well over 6ft.

'The kids used to tease me and I found that very difficult,' he said on a trip to the UK in 2010.

'But now I am really proud of being tall.'