| The story of David and Goliath found in the Bible is | | | | disease that causes the pituitary gland to produce |
| probably one of the most well-known and often-told | | | | excessive amounts of growth hormones. The |
| stories from the Old Testament. It carries with it a | | | | disorder is called acromegaly and is more commonly |
| wonderful lesson - that no problem is too big in the | | | | known as gigantism. This condition can cause people |
| eyes of God. If we see everything in the same | | | | to grow to abnormal heights. So, according to this |
| perspective as God, huge problems and situations | | | | theory, Goliath was suffering a disease that would |
| that seem impossible can be seen more clearly. We | | | | have, at some point, caused his premature death |
| can deal with them more effectively, especially with | | | | either way. |
| God on our side. | | | | But why was David so easily able to sneak up on the |
| According to the Bible, Goliath was a member of the | | | | giant in order to kill him? Scientists explain this by |
| Philistine army that was waging war against the | | | | saying that a side effect of gigantism is partial |
| Israelites. He was over 9 feet tall and was clad in | | | | blindness or tunnel vision. The secretion of excess |
| armor from head to foot. The Israelites were | | | | growth hormones by the pituitary gland is normally |
| terrified of Goliath and none would fight him. | | | | caused by the formation of a tumor. This tumor |
| Meanwhile he continued to mock Saul, the King of | | | | could have compressed the giant's optic chiasm, the |
| Israel, and his men, daring them to fight him. | | | | part of the brain where the optic nerves cross. With |
| A teenage boy name David put his fear aside and, | | | | impaired sight and no peripheral vision, David could |
| armed only with a bag of stones and a sling, | | | | easily have gotten close enough to Goliath to get off |
| challenged Goliath by saying "I come against you in | | | | the fatal shot. |
| the name of the Lord Almighty." As Goliath began to | | | | Finally, many ask how did one small stone in the head |
| attack, David used his sling and a well-aimed stone to | | | | drop such a fierce giant? This is also explained by the |
| puncture a small opening in the forehead of Goliath's | | | | existence of the tumor. If the rock hit directly on |
| armor and immediately kill him. | | | | that tumor, this may have caused the tumor to burst |
| Certain scientists have taken a keen interest in the | | | | and bleed and in turn caused the death of the giant, |
| events leading up to Goliath's death. Neurologists | | | | Goliath. |
| theorize that Goliath may have suffered from a | | | | |