Fall Risk: It ’ s All in Your Head

By HENRY MAHNCKE More than one in four senior citizens fall each year, making it the leading cause of both fatal and non-fatal injuries in older adults. Anyone with a loved one at high risk of falls can tell you it creates constant worry and curtails many of life’s pleasures. And, if that loved one has fallen and broken a hip, too many of those caregivers can share the oft-told tale of how that break was the beginning of the end. As our population grows and ages, the costs of this widespread risk multiply.  However, recent breakthroughs in the science of brain health demonstrate that we could be taking relatively low-cost, highly scalable, steps to reduce these risks. Our narrow focus on physical factors is misguided When we think about the causes of fall risk, we tend to focus on physical factors in our environment, such as trip hazards or unexpected changes in terrain. We might also think of physical factors in our health, like muscle strength, bone density, impaired vision, or medications that cause dizziness.  As a result, most programs to reduce fall risk involve physical things like someone coming to the house to remove trip hazards and add grab bars, and, maybe, a review of medications, suggestions of treatments to strengthen bone density and muscles, and advice to update eyeglass prescriptions. Those are good actions to take! But they don’t fully address the problem. Right before you fall, there is a moment – just a split-second – w...
Source: The Health Care Blog - Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Tags: Health Tech Health Technology brain function BrainHQ falling National Institute of Aging National Institute of Health Source Type: blogs