Scientists discover 3 ways to predict if an elderly will be inclined to fall

Critical is critical for the elderly to be strong in their feet, as falls are the leading cause of damage to the elderly.

Only in the US, nearly one -third of people over the age of 65 fall every year, resulting in injuries and occasionally death. Falling in the elderly cost $ 30 billion a year to treat and can send the elderly who spirals in poor health and disability.

Now, researchers from Stanford University may have found ways to identify people at risk of deadly or weak fall years before they reach old age.

“Small balance damage can pass unnoticed until someone actually falls. So we wanted to ask: Can we detect these injuries before someone hurts?” Explained by Jiaen Wu, the main author of the paper.

The Wu team had 10 healthy volunteers between the ages of 24 and 31 with harness that allowed nearly a dozen cameras to follow the movement of different body parts as they walked in a routine.

The team recorded the width between the steps when he walked, the change in the time of each step, and the consistency of foot placement.

Participants were then asked to walk while wearing their foot looms, a mask that blocks their eyes, and with destabilizing air planes, obstacles that imitated the effects of aging on the balance and speed of reaction.

Armed with these barrier accessories, it became more difficult for participants to see their surroundings or maintain their balance, and the researchers had a more difficult time predicting how wide or when it would be the next step.

Comparing the first set of normal walking data with the charges, researchers found that participants with the highest variance in the step of step, the time and falling in the first phase were more likely to fall in the second phase – suggesting how someone walks in their prime minister can determine how much they are likely to experience a decline later.

The authors said each of these three initial walking measures was 86% accurate in the prediction of whether someone would experience a decline in the second experiment.

“In this study, normal walking data were informative in most cases,” Wu said.

The findings were Published this week in the Experimental Biology Newspaper.

Wu and the team hope that data like this can provide an early warning to older people before reaching a high risk age, potentially saving life and curbing stress in the health care system.

Conventional efforts to prevent declines include exercises to increase strength and balance. Some studies have linked balance and stability to overall health.

One carried out for the British newspaper of sports medicine in 2022 found that the ability to perform a 10 -second residence test, with one leg, predicted the survival of people of middle age and older.

The subjects of the 12-year-old were 51 to 75. They had to try to stand on one foot for 10 seconds, with both hands on their sides.

Those who were unable to do it ended to have more health problems over time, including type 2 diabetes, heart disease, overweight and unhealthy cholesterol levels.

More alarming of all, those who were unable to balance successfully for 10 seconds had a double risk of dying within 10 years.

Researchers in China made similar conclusions in 2023, reporting that the risk of death from any cause in middle age and older increased with a lack of balance.

If you are concerned about the decline in stability, experts suggest that they get involved in dynamic balance exercises on how to walk up the stairs, just walk on your heels or fingers, and practice yoga or dance.

Steps can take older adults to reduce their risk to drop

• Exercise, including walking and stretching, can improve muscle strength and balance.
• Make a doctor review all medicines to check the side effects or drug interactions that can cause dizziness or drowsiness.
• Take annual vision exams to make sure the eyes are healthy and the glasses are the right strength.
• Reduce the dangers of autumn at home by digging mess and poor lighting and installed handrail in bathtubs and showers.
• Limit alcohol consumption, which can affect balance.
• Stay slowly: growth very quickly can sometimes result in a sudden drop in blood pressure, causing dizziness.
• Use a cane or itinerant if necessary for durability.