Rasmussen uses his stature to raise awareness of Marfan Syndrome

Being unusually tall can make the little things in life downright frustrating. Try sitting in an airplane seat, passing through a doorway without ducking your head, or finding clothing and furniture that fit comfortably.

Dave Rasmussen knows these aggravations firsthand - he's 7 feet, 3 inches tall. The door leading to his Bolton Hall office had to be "cut out" at the top. His work station is set up on blocks, and his recumbent bike is custom-made.

"Everything is made for the average-size person," he says, shrugging his shoulders.

For Rasmussen, though, the most annoying part of being extra tall is the constant barrage of people inquiring about his height.

"If I'm tired, I'll usually ignore the person," he admits.

Others times, he may simply refuse to cooperate. "There was this young guy who shouted to me across the hall. I just ignored him. But then he caught up with me at the elevator and asked, `How tall are you, sir?' I said, `Let me see, I forgot to ask my mother about that.'"

Now Rasmussen is putting himself in the limelight, using his physical stature for a higher cause: to get the word out about Marfan Syndrome.

Marfan Syndrome is a health condition that affects the joints, causing ailments that can include serious heart problems. It occurs in about 1 in 5,000 people. The condition may be difficult to diagnose because there is no specific laboratory test for it. Also, signs of the condition vary greatly from one person to the next, but the unifying feature for those with Marfan is their height.

Abraham Lincoln, Rachmaninoff, Mary Queen of Scots, and Niccolo Paganini were all thought to have had Marfan Syndrome.

Knowing the connection between height and Marfan, Rasmussen made a suggestion to the Tall Clubs Inc., a social and support organization to which he belongs. Why not plan a convention to coincide with the annual convention of the National Marfan Foundation? His idea materialized in July, when both groups held their conventions in Pittsburgh.

The dual conventions drew the attention of a British production company doing a documentary about tall people and the link they have to Marfan. When contacted by the company, Wall To Wall Productions, Ltd., about appearing in the film, Rasmussen agreed.

"I lost a good friend who was just 28 to a torn aorta," he said of his consent.

The aorta (the main artery carrying blood away from the heart) is generally wider and more fragile in people with Marfan Syndrome. This widening can result in leakage of the aortic valve or development of tears in the aorta. Other health concerns for people afflicted with the syndrome are aneurysms, detached retinas, and skeletal problems.

Rasmussen, an IS technical support programmer with I&MT's Client Services Department, was filmed both in Pittsburgh and here in Milwaukee during mid-July. All the attention focused on a man who doesn't particularly care to be the center of attention wasn't too bad, he conceded. He actually had fun.

"They shot me ducking around at a party," he said. "They mounted a camera to my bike and I rode around the neighborhood. And they did a long interview at my house. I showed them some `mods' made to my house and my car (the seat of his car has been lowered, and the rear-view mirror has been attached to the interior roof). They asked me what it was like growing up, and if other members of my family were tall (he has a brother who is 6 feet, 8 inches)."

Another important part of the filming was having his heart valves imaged at Allegheny Hospital in Pennsylvania. Rasmussen had been evaluated for Marfan Syndrome before and found not to have it. But at Allegheny, doctors determined he probably has mild forms of the condition, including a heart problem called MVP.

MVP, or mitral valve prolapse, happens when the two leaflets of one of the heart's valves billow backward when the heart contracts. MVP isn't necessarily life-threatening. Although it can lead to heart failure, it is most often associated with an irregular heartbeat.

Wall To Wall Productions doesn't yet have a release date for the documentary. Once finished, it will likely "sit on a shelf" for a year or so before it is offered to the long list of broadcast outlets here and in Great Britain. Wall To Wall sells its programming to the BBC, ITV, and Channel 4 in Europe. Its programs also show up on the Discovery Channel, the Sci-Fi Channel, Bravo, and a host of other channels in the U.S.