8 replies to this topic

[futureofscience]

Interesting article I came across the other day on BBC News, have included full text as well for perusal.

http://news.bbc.co.u...ast/7247679.stm

With an arm wrapped round her great- great-granddaughter, Mariam Amash bathes the latest addition to her family.

She offers Islamic blessings for the week-old baby - a traditional Arabic custom.

It is a ritual that Mrs Amash has performed many times in her life.

According to Mrs Amash, she was born 120 years ago - a claim, if confirmed, that would make her the oldest person in the world.

The Guinness Book of Records currently lists 114-year-old Edna Parker of Shelbyville, Indiana, as holding the title.

But Mrs Amash - who lives in the predominantly Arab town of Jisr az-Zarqa in northern Israel - views her rival as a relative youngster.

Huge family

"Yes, I am the oldest person in the world," she says, her family crowding around her.

"I eat, I drink, and I take showers. I hope to keep going for another 10 years."

Mrs Amash has 10 children, 120 grandchildren, 250 great-grandchildren, and 30 great-great-grandchildren, according to relatives.

The discovery that she may be the oldest person in the world came by chance when she applied for a new Israeli identity card.

The Israeli authorities say they issued the identity card based on a birth document issued by the Turkish authorities who ruled the region at the time.

Mrs Amash, of Bedouin descent, says that the secret to her longevity is a healthy diet - she eats lots of vegetables.

For all her years, she is remarkably sprightly.

A devout Muslim, Mrs Amash has made five pilgrimages to Mecca, the last trip in 1990, relatives say.

Long-term memory

"She rises every morning around five for prayers," says one of her grandsons, Majid Amash, 46, an engineer.

"She then goes for a walk and then spends most of her day with the family. She recognises all of us."

But, he adds, her grandmother's long-term memory is fuzzy.

For her part, Mrs Amash has one piece of cautionary advice for younger generations.

"They drink too much Arak (an Arabic alcoholic drink)," she says.

In order for Mrs Amash to be officially declared the oldest person in the World she must submit documentation to the Guinness Book of Records.

A spokesman in London for the publication says the family has yet to do that.

(edited by Matthias: name added to the title)

Edited by Matthias, 20 May 2008 - 01:18 PM.

[Matt]

I hope its proved that she is really this old. Lots of claims over the last few years and none have been recognised.

[VictorBjoerk]

There isn't the slightest chance that this could be true

[lunarsolarpower]

There isn't the slightest chance that this could be true

Yeah, shouldn't her grandson be about 86, not 46?

[forever freedom]

There isn't the slightest chance that this could be true

Yeah, shouldn't her grandson be about 86, not 46?

Too bad..

[TianZi]

There isn't the slightest chance that this could be true

Yeah, shouldn't her grandson be about 86, not 46?

Too bad..

Let's do some simple math. Assume she's 120.Let's say she gave birth to a son at the age of 40, which was 80 years ago. If she's 120 and relatively healthy now, she'd have been biologically healthier than the average 40 year old at that age, so this isn't unlikely.

Now let's say her son fathered a son when he was aged 45, which was 35 years ago. No reason a man couldn't do that. That would give her a grandson aged 35 today, and the person claiming to be the grandson in the article is aged 46.

Not a difficult exercise. Brains, people, use them.

Edited by TianZi, 22 July 2008 - 08:48 AM.

[Heliotrope]

10 children, 120 grandchildren, 250 great-grandchildren, and 30 great-great-grandchildren

she knows all of them, wow hundreds of descendents, enough to fill a nice-sized school, i'd agree with the article and say the 120-yr-old woman has good memory , good longterm memory

Edited by HYP86, 22 July 2008 - 09:10 AM.

[lazur]

Yeah, shouldn't her grandson be about 86, not 46?
/Let's do some simple math. Assume she's 120.Let's say she gave birth to a son at the age of 40, which was 80 years ago. If she's 120 and relatively healthy now, she'd have been biologically healthier than the average 40 year old at that age, so this isn't unlikely.
Now let's say her son fathered a son when he was aged 45, which was 35 years ago. No reason a man couldn't do that. That would give her a grandson aged 35 today, and the person claiming to be the grandson in the article is aged 46.
/Of course, it's possible, just not likely for generations to be so far apart. In similar cases, the supposed supercentarians consistently have a "hole" where the next generation should exist. When the claim is for an individual , there is always the possibility you speak of, though highly unlikely. This is more of an issue with claims for community longevity, such as the Hunzas. The Hunzas supposedly have many 90 to 110 year olds, but they have -no- 60 to 90 year old children, (and, of course, no 30 to 60 year old grandchildren), in the type of community that would reasonably be expected to have their first children when the mother are in their teens. Such scams cause reasonable supicion, and further put further burden of proof on the "supercentarians" who always seem to wait until middle age to have kids.






N

[TianZi]

Yeah, shouldn't her grandson be about 86, not 46?
/Let's do some simple math. Assume she's 120.Let's say she gave birth to a son at the age of 40, which was 80 years ago. If she's 120 and relatively healthy now, she'd have been biologically healthier than the average 40 year old at that age, so this isn't unlikely.
Now let's say her son fathered a son when he was aged 45, which was 35 years ago. No reason a man couldn't do that. That would give her a grandson aged 35 today, and the person claiming to be the grandson in the article is aged 46.
/Of course, it's possible, just not likely for generations to be so far apart. In similar cases, the supposed supercentarians consistently have a "hole" where the next generation should exist. When the claim is for an individual , there is always the possibility you speak of, though highly unlikely. This is more of an issue with claims for community longevity, such as the Hunzas. The Hunzas supposedly have many 90 to 110 year olds, but they have -no- 60 to 90 year old children, (and, of course, no 30 to 60 year old grandchildren), in the type of community that would reasonably be expected to have their first children when the mother are in their teens. Such scams cause reasonable supicion, and further put further burden of proof on the "supercentarians" who always seem to wait until middle age to have kids.






N

Lazur,

Keep in mind she supposedly has 120 grandchildren. Some are obviously younger than others. If some / all of her children resembled her in terms of aging, it's likely they remained fertile for a longer period of time than the average person. Keep in mind we aren't talking about the US here where the average individual has just a couple of kids; this woman had 10 children, presumably over a period of many years. There may be a cultural pressure to have as many kids as possible in the Bedouin Muslim culture or in Israel generally(I can imagine why that would be), although I don't know.

Edited by TianZi, 04 August 2008 - 04:58 PM.