130-yr-old patient puzzles doctors

An ascetic admitted in the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) claims to be 130 years old, but the doctors at the premier hospital are taking it with a pinch of salt.  Resting in the hospital after a surgery for removal of a bladder tumour, Sant Swami Ramanand, who hails from Behta jungle near Shahjahanpur in Uttar Pradesh, claims that he is 130 years old.

"It is for sure that he is above 100 years old. But whether he is 130 years old or not, I am not sure about it," said Dr N P Gupta, Head of the Department of Urology, AIIMS, under whom Ramanand is undergoing treatment.  Even if Ramanand is over 100 years old, he has created a record of sorts as it is the first time in the history of AIIMS wherein a person above the age of 100 had undergone a surgery.

"He was suffering from carcinoma of bladder. He has undergone a cysrtopanedoscopy and removal of bladder tumour without any incision," Dr Gupta said.  Regarding the authenticity of Ramanand's claims, Dr Gupta said, "There is no arrangement in medical science which can correctly suggest a person's age after he or she has crossed the age of 60 or 70. If we are believing him, it is all because he talks about Gandhi and lots about the history of India."

Regarding the present state of Ramanand, Dr Gupta stated that he has been operated upon successfully. He will be discharged sometime next week, he said, adding the hospital was yet to check if the cancer has spread elsewhere and study the tumour that has been taken out. The oldest person in the world, according to Guinness Book of World Records, is a 122-year French woman. - timesofindia