In US, world's oldest person celebrates 115th birthday

August 27, 2011 in Health

Bess Cooper celebrated her 115th birthday as the world's oldest person in Monroe, Georgia, Friday, though there was no Elvis impersonator at the party like there was last year, reported local media.

A researcher from Guinness Book of World Records was on hand at Cooper's birthday party to deliver the Tennessee native her second plaque that certifies her as the oldest person on the planet.

"We thought one was enough," her son, Sidney Cooper, 76, told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, a daily newspaper based in the southern US city of Atlanta, Georgia.

"She still remembers things and thinks clearly and talks," added Cooper. "But she has her good days and her bad days. Id say she sleeps about 80 percent of the time."

Born in Tennessee in 1896, Besse Cooper moved to Georgia during World War in search of work as a teacher. She married her husband Luther in 1924, and they had four children. Today she has 12 grandchildren and more than a dozen great-grandchildren and great-great grandchildren, reported the Journal-Constitution.

In the same year Cooper was born, the first Dow Jones Industrial Average was published, the first modern Olympic games were held and the first Ford vehicle was built.

"She never worried," says her son. Local media reported that Besse Cooper adds her secret to longevity lies in two key tenets: "I mind my own business," she said. "And I don't eat junk food."

(c) 2011 AFP

5 /5 (5 votes)  

Filter


Move the slider to adjust rank threshold, so that you can hide some of the comments.


Display comments: newest first

Nanobanano
Aug 27, 2011

Rank: 1 / 5 (2)
This is NOT the oldest living person.

There are several in the middle east and HAITI which are ten to twenty years older than this (unless they all died in the last year or two,) and they even have church and government records to prove it, yet they are not recognized by the guiness records.
nanotech_republika_pl
Aug 27, 2011

Rank: not rated yet
So what are the records that show some other people lived "ten to twenty" years more than 115? That would be 135 and 125. I'm not an expert on this but wherever i hear about the maximum lifespan it never is more than 122. If it's true that a person at 115 has only 50% chance of living to the next year, 116, etc, then chances of people living to 135 are extremely small. In fact that would be like 1 to 2^20 (1 in 2 at every year after 115), which is about a one in a million. So we would have to have a record of at least 1 million people who reached age of 115. Looking at say, Wikipedia entry, http://en.wikiped..._people, there are just handful of those, not one million.
Rank 5 /5 (5 votes)
Related Stories
Relevant PhysicsForums posts

More news stories

CDC presents recent trends in health behaviors of US adults

(HealthDay)—In 2008 to 2010, the prevalence of key health behaviors among U.S. adults varied, with about one in five adults current smokers and 62.1 percent overweight or obese, according to a report presented ...

Health created 26 minutes ago | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

Americans still making unhealthy choices, CDC reports

(HealthDay)—The overall health of Americans isn't improving much, with about six in 10 people either overweight or obese and large numbers engaging in unhealthy behaviors like smoking, heavy drinking or ...

Health created 36 minutes ago | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

US court strikes down Arizona 20-week abortion ban

A federal court in San Francisco Tuesday struck down Arizona's ban on abortions after 20 weeks of pregnancy.

Health created 36 minutes ago | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

Aggressive behavior linked specifically to secondhand smoke exposure in childhood

Children who are exposed to secondhand smoke in early childhood are more likely to grow up to physically aggressive and antisocial, regardless of whether they were exposed during pregnancy or their parents have a history ...

Health created 3 hours ago | popularity 1 / 5 (1) | comments 0

Most elite athletes believe doping substances are effective in improving performance

Most elite athletes consider doping substances "are effective" in improving performance, while recognising that they constitute cheating, can endanger health and entail the obvious risk of sanction. At the same time, the ...

Health created 4 hours ago | popularity not rated yet | comments 0


Antidepressant reduces stress-induced heart condition

A drug commonly used to treat depression and anxiety may improve a stress-related heart condition in people with stable coronary heart disease, according to researchers at Duke Medicine.

Study examines outbreak of spinal infections in Michigan

(HealthDay)—Factors such as increased case finding may explain why Michigan had half of the total spinal infections associated with contaminated methylprednisolone acetate in the recent fungal meningitis ...

Early use of tracheostomy for mechanically ventilated patients not associated with improved survival

For critically ill patients receiving mechanical ventilation, early tracheostomy (within the first 4 days after admission) was not associated with an improvement in the risk of death within 30 days compared to patients who ...

CDC says high number of public pools contain microbes

(HealthDay)—Three-quarters of public schools in the metro Atlanta area contain microbes, including bacteria indicating the presence of fecal matter, according to research published in the May 17 issue of ...

Weather worries can threaten a child's mental health

(HealthDay)—The monstrous tornado that devastated Moore, Okla., on Monday, killing dozens of adults and children, is a stunning example of violent weather that can affect a child's mental well-being.

World not ready if flu outbreak strikes, WHO says

The globe remains unprepared to deal with the risk of a massive virus outbreak, the deputy chief of the World Health Organization warned Tuesday, amid fears that H7N9 bird flu striking China could morph into a form that spreads ...