World’s oldest person in recorded history — 116-year-old Jiroemon Kimura — died of natural causes early on Wednesday in his hometown in western Japan. Kimura died today at 2.08 am in a hospital in Kyotango, Kyoto Prefecture, the local government said in a statement. After being hospitalised with pneumonia on May 11, Kimura recovered temporarily. However, his condition began to worsen again a few days ago.
Born in Kyoto Prefecture on April 19, 1897, Kimura was recognised as the world’s oldest-living man by Guinness World Records in April 2011. He became the oldest living person in December 2012. Kimura became the longest living man on record on December 28 the same year when he was 115 years and 253 days old, the Japan Times reported. Kimura was also the last male alive to have been born in the 19th century. He retired in 1962 at the age of 65 after working 45 years in the Japanese post office.
Kimura had seven children, two of whom have already died, 14 grandchildren, 25 great-grandchildren and 15 great-great-grandchildren. He lived with his eldest son’s widow, 83, and his grandson’s widow, 59, and attributed his long life to eating small portions of food, and would spend most of his time “in bed”.
With the death of Kimura, the oldest living person in the world is now believed to be 115-year-old Misao Okawa, a resident of the city of Osaka.
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Stress depletes stem cells to turn hair grey
Melbourne: Stress really may turn your hair grey by depleting stem cells, a new study has claimed. Researchers found the appearance of grey hair after periods of stress or skin damage could be the result of depletion of stem cells from the base of the hair follicle. Hair and skin are both pigmented by melanin, produced by cells called melanocytes, which in turn are produced by melanocyte stem cells that live in a region at the very base of the hair follicle called the bulge.
Dr Mayumo Ito and colleagues from New York University found that when the skin is damaged or irradiated, these melanocyte stem cells help to repair skin damage by leaving the bulge and travelling to the skin to replenish the store of melanocytes in the outer layer of the skin.
However, in the process, they leave the bulge without its own supply of melanocyte stem cells, ABC news reported. — PTI