WEIRD STUFF World’s oldest person celebrates 117th birthday

World’s oldest person celebrates 117th birthday

The world’s oldest person has marked her 117th birthday after a year packed with remarkable milestones — including meeting King Charles and stroking a llama.

Ethel Caterham, who lives at Hallmark Lakeview Care Home in Lightwater, Surrey, celebrated with family and friends on Friday.

Reflecting on the milestone, Caterham said: “Thank you for all of the kind birthday wishes. Even at 117, I’ve had many firsts this year, from stroking a llama to holding hands with the King.

“I’ve had a lovely day celebrating with my family and friends, and I look forward to seeing what next year brings.”

Caterham became the world’s oldest living person in April 2025, following the death of Brazilian nun Sister Inah Canabarro Lucas at 116.

Just weeks after Caterham’s 116th birthday, King Charles visited her and held her hand as he introduced himself.

During the meeting, Caterham recalled attending the future king’s 1969 investiture as Prince of Wales, when he was 21.

She cheekily told him: “All the girls were in love with you and wanted to marry you.”

Born on August 21, 1909, in Shipton Bellinger, Hampshire, Caterham was the second-youngest of eight siblings and is the last surviving subject of Edward VII, who died in 1910.

At 18, she travelled to India, where she worked as an au pair for a military family.

She later met her husband, Norman, a British Army lieutenant colonel, at a dinner party in 1931.

The couple lived in Salisbury before following his military postings to Gibraltar and Hong Kong.

In Hong Kong, Caterham established a nursery school and raised two daughters, both of whom died before her.

Norman died in 1976.

Longevity appears to have run in the family, with Caterham’s sister Gladys living to 104.

Caterham continued driving until she was 97, and played contract bridge well into her centenarian years.

She also survived COVID-19 in 2020 at the age of 110.

Despite reaching 117, Caterham still has some ways to go before challenging the record for the oldest person ever.

That title belongs to Frenchwoman Jeanne Calment, who lived to 122 years and 164 days, according to Guinness World Records.

------------------

Giant python makes cancer-treatment history

A giant python named after Hollywood star Jodie Foster has made veterinary history after becoming the first snake believed to have undergone a pioneering cancer treatment normally used in humans.

The 15-foot reticulated python, weighing 50kg, was diagnosed with malignant fibrosarcoma after keepers noticed she was eating less and had become unusually inactive.

The 23-year-old snake initially underwent surgery to remove the tumour, but it returned and began invading her jawbone.

With Jodie’s life at risk, vets turned to electrochemotherapy — a treatment combining the cancer drug bleomycin with controlled electrical pulses to help the medicine penetrate cancer cells.

Ian Ashpole, a veterinary officer at Chester Zoo, said: “When the tumour came back and started destroying part of her jawbone, we knew more surgery on its own probably wasn’t going to be enough.

“We were facing the possibility of losing her as the tumour made it more and more difficult for her to eat, so we worked with cancer specialists to see whether we could adapt electrochemotherapy for a snake. As far as we’re aware, this is the first time it’s ever been used in one.”

Jodie was anaesthetised in her habitat before being transported to the zoo’s veterinary centre for the 90-minute procedure.

Her enormous size presented another challenge: two operating tables had to be pushed together to create a platform roughly the size of a double bed.

Vets removed the tumour and part of the diseased jawbone before administering electrochemotherapy to target cancer cells that remained.

The treatment appears to have been successful.

Months later, Jodie is eating normally and has returned to striking, gripping and swallowing her food without difficulty.

A final check this week found no signs of the cancer returning.

-------------

Scientists sound warning on fasting

Fasting diets could be putting older people at greater risk of long-term illness, scientists have warned.

Researchers found that people aged over 60 who regularly went more than 12 hours between meals accumulated chronic diseases faster than those who ate at shorter intervals.

The association was strongest among the oldest participants, with people aged 78 and over appearing particularly vulnerable.

Scientists at the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm studied 2,981 people aged 60 and above, tracking their health over 15 years.

They found that the amount of time participants went without eating was associated with the accumulation of diseases affecting the heart, lungs and brain.

However, there was no significant association between meal timing and musculoskeletal conditions.

The findings come as intermittent fasting has grown increasingly popular, with people deliberately limiting the hours during which they eat in an effort to lose weight or improve their health.

But scientists say considerably less is known about whether the approach is appropriate for older adults.

Dr Adrián Carballo-Casla said: “Much of the research on fasting has been conducted in younger or middle-aged populations.

“Our findings suggest that the associations may be different in older adults, particularly among the oldest age groups.

“Although longer intervals between meals were linked to faster disease accumulation, the study cannot establish whether the fasting pattern independently contributed to this outcome.”

The researchers stressed that their study identified an association only and cannot prove that fasting itself causes older people to develop diseases more quickly.