The hypothesis that hypopituitary dwarfism is linked to decreased longevity does not hold true for female \”Munchkin’ actors in the 1939 film adaptation of The Wizard of Oz
The lifespan of laboratory mice is significantly extended by pituitary dwarfism due to genetic reduction or elimination. It is not clear what effects congenital dwarfism has on human longevity. In order to analyse the effects of untreated congenital pituitary a dwarfism, the lifespan of 124 adults, who played the \”Munchkins\”, in the 1939 film The Wizard of Oz, was examined. The survival of \”Munchkin’ actors was compared to that of the controls, defined as members of The Wizard of Oz cast and other Academy Award-winning Hollywood films of the time. Kaplan-Meier survival curvatures showed that the survival of male and female \”Munchkin’ actors were shorter than those of cast controls or Hollywood controls.
Source:
https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11357-022-00680-7
