# 157 year old woman in Indonesia
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/157-year-old-woman-in-indonesia/542265
**Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
**Created:** [June 7, 2010, 1:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/157-year-old-woman-in-indonesia/542265 "2010-06-07T13:30:30Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@Cicero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cicero)
#### Post date: [June 7, 2010, 1:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/157-year-old-woman-in-indonesia/542265/1 "2010-06-07T13:30:30Z")
So says this[story](http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2010/06/07/2920850.htm?section=justin).
She allegedly has a 108 year old daughter.
For some reason my bullshit meter is ringing.
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### Author:  [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)
#### Post date: [June 7, 2010, 2:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/157-year-old-woman-in-indonesia/542265/2 "2010-06-07T14:12:41Z")
> [@](#):
>
> She allegedly has a 108 year old daughter.
Is she cute?
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### Author:  [@Cicero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cicero)
#### Post date: [June 7, 2010, 2:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/157-year-old-woman-in-indonesia/542265/3 "2010-06-07T14:19:23Z")
To me she probably would be.
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### Author:  [@TruCelt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TruCelt)
#### Post date: [June 7, 2010, 2:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/157-year-old-woman-in-indonesia/542265/4 "2010-06-07T14:27:56Z")
I could credit it mroe easily if the daughter weren’t adopted. It seems perfectly possible to me that a genetic line could produce startling longevity at some point. But that the trait woudl extend to adopted children seems doubtful . . .
It’s only too bad that when/if it does happen, the individuals carrying the trait will past the procreation stage before we know about it.
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### Author:  [@Cicero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cicero)
#### Post date: [June 7, 2010, 2:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/157-year-old-woman-in-indonesia/542265/5 "2010-06-07T14:33:52Z")
It could happen. All the records being destroyed is convenient.
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### Author:  [@AuntiePam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AuntiePam)
#### Post date: [June 7, 2010, 2:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/157-year-old-woman-in-indonesia/542265/6 "2010-06-07T14:46:54Z")
Seems weird that we’re just hearing about this now. Why not when she turned 120 or 130? And even if she destroyed her personal ID info, wouldn’t there be other records? Her own parents, work, school, taxes, marriage?
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### Author:  [@cmkeller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmkeller)
#### Post date: [June 7, 2010, 2:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/157-year-old-woman-in-indonesia/542265/7 "2010-06-07T14:50:50Z")
We’ll just have to cut her open and count the rings.
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### Author:  [@PoorYorick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PoorYorick)
#### Post date: [June 7, 2010, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/157-year-old-woman-in-indonesia/542265/8 "2010-06-07T15:00:21Z")
Sorry, no cite, but will vague memories do? I remember in the late 70’s, “wellness” was coming into vogue within the group of people I hung around with. I went to a conference where the speaker used the fact of some Russians living up to around 165 years old as proof of the power of eating right. If I remember correctly, these supercentenarians were finally discovered to have claimed their parents’ birth certificates (why, I have no idea), effectively doubling their age.
I wouldn’t be surprised if the same thing might not be going on here.
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### Author:  [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)
#### Post date: [June 7, 2010, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/157-year-old-woman-in-indonesia/542265/9 "2010-06-07T15:17:53Z")
> [@PoorYorick](#):
>
> I remember in the late 70’s, “wellness” was coming into vogue within the group of people I hung around with. I went to a conference where the speaker used the fact of some Russians living up to around 165 years old as proof of the power of eating right. If I remember correctly, these supercentenarians were finally discovered to have claimed their parents’ birth certificates (why, I have no idea), effectively doubling their age.
>
> I wouldn’t be surprised if the same thing might not be going on here.
[Here’s some insight.](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=9627424&postcount=16)
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### Author:  [@Wile\_E](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wile_E)
#### Post date: [June 7, 2010, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/157-year-old-woman-in-indonesia/542265/10 "2010-06-07T15:47:51Z")
> [@cmkeller](#):
>
> We’ll just have to cut her open and count the rings.
_shakes fist_ Someone always beats me to the joke I want to make.
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### Author:  [@PoorYorick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PoorYorick)
#### Post date: [June 7, 2010, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/157-year-old-woman-in-indonesia/542265/11 "2010-06-07T17:06:52Z")
> [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](#):
>
> [Here’s some insight.](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=9627424&postcount=16)
That’s it exactly. Thanks for refreshing my memory.
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### Author:  [@ShibbOleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ShibbOleth)
#### Post date: [June 7, 2010, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/157-year-old-woman-in-indonesia/542265/12 "2010-06-07T18:34:04Z")
I hear she hasn’t had a bite to eat in over 93 years.
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### Author:  [@Nefarious\_Chipmunk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nefarious_Chipmunk)
#### Post date: [June 7, 2010, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/157-year-old-woman-in-indonesia/542265/13 "2010-06-07T19:01:27Z")
> [@](#):
>
> Even more incredible, she still works around the house and has smoked clove cigarettes all her life, Mr Sardjono said.
I will be truly amazed when one of these long-lived folks has lived a healthy lifestyle of no drinking or smoking, eating a healthy diet, and exercising regularly.
It seems these articles always mention unhealthy lifestyle choices…
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### Author:  [@The\_Second\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Second_Stone)
#### Post date: [June 7, 2010, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/157-year-old-woman-in-indonesia/542265/14 "2010-06-07T19:11:31Z")
Sounds to me like she is pretending to be someone who died without records so that she could avoid being branded a communist.
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### Author:  [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)
#### Post date: [June 7, 2010, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/157-year-old-woman-in-indonesia/542265/15 "2010-06-07T19:50:27Z")
Given that this would make her 35 years older than the oldest documented human, I’m highly, highly skeptical.
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### Author:  [@Perciful](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Perciful)
#### Post date: [June 9, 2010, 3:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/157-year-old-woman-in-indonesia/542265/16 "2010-06-09T03:59:17Z")
After she dies they can tell how old she was. Women usually lie about being younger, not older?
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### Author:  [@TruCelt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TruCelt)
#### Post date: [June 9, 2010, 10:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/157-year-old-woman-in-indonesia/542265/17 "2010-06-09T10:25:28Z")
> [@Perciful](#):
>
> After she dies they can tell how old she was. . . .
How can they tell? Just curious. . .
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### Author:  [@BMalion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BMalion)
#### Post date: [June 9, 2010, 10:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/157-year-old-woman-in-indonesia/542265/18 "2010-06-09T10:32:17Z")
There can be only one!
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### Author:  [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)
#### Post date: [June 9, 2010, 11:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/157-year-old-woman-in-indonesia/542265/19 "2010-06-09T11:08:17Z")
> [@TruCelt](#):
>
> How can they tell? Just curious. . .
Find her death certificate, get her birth certificate, subtract.
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### Author:  [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)
#### Post date: [June 9, 2010, 11:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/157-year-old-woman-in-indonesia/542265/20 "2010-06-09T23:58:46Z")
> [@TruCelt](#):
>
> How can they tell? Just curious. . .
We really can’t without documentation. There’s no good way to pin down someone’s age to the year after death once they’ve reached adulthood.
More to the point, however, it’s up to those claiming the extreme age (and anything older than 100 is fairly extreme, let alone older than 120) to provide evidence to support their assertion. The skeptics don’t have to prove, or show, diddly.