Join the 'Prevention of Falls' group to help and get support from people like you. How it works

Prevention of Falls Blog

Blog (9)

Hearing Loss Triples Risk of Falling: Study

Posted 27 Feb 2012 by Drugs.com

MONDAY, Feb. 27 – Hearing loss is associated with an increased risk of falling, according to a new study. Johns Hopkins researchers analyzed data from more than who took part in the U.S. National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey from 2001 to 2004. The participants had their hearing tested and answered questions about whether they had a fall in the past year. The study found that people with a 25-decibel hearing loss (classified as mild) were nearly three times more likely to have a history of falling than those with no hearing loss. Every additional 10 decibels of hearing loss meant an increased 1.4-fold risk of falling. The findings held after the researchers accounted for other factors linked with falling, such as age, sex, race, heart disease and balance. People with impaired hearing don't have good awareness of their overall environment, which makes them more likely to trip ... Read more

Related support groups: Hearing Loss, Prevention of Falls

Fall-Prone Seniors May Have Trouble Adjusting to Poorer Vision

Posted 16 Sep 2011 by Drugs.com

FRIDAY, Sept. 16 – Fall-prone older adults may be more at risk for taking a tumble because they don't slow their walking speed when their vision is impaired, a small new study suggests. The researchers, Fiona Newell of Trinity College in Dublin and colleagues, looked at five older adults who had fallen at least once in the past year, six older adults who had not fallen, and six younger adults. The participants' walking was monitored under normal conditions and again when they wore goggles that caused blurred vision. The walking ability of all three groups was affected by the blurred vision, but especially in the fall-prone older adults. The younger adults and the older adults who hadn't fallen compensated for their blurred vision by slowing their walking speed, but the fall-prone older adults did not, the investigators found. The fall-prone participants also made more errors in ... Read more

Related support groups: Eye Conditions, Prevention of Falls

Certain Antidepressants Linked to Falls in Nursing Homes

Posted 26 Jul 2011 by Drugs.com

TUESDAY, July 26 – In the days after they start taking non-SSRI (selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor) antidepressants, such as bupropion or venlafaxine, nursing home residents are at significantly greater risk for falls, according to a new study. Researchers found the increased risk for falls also applies to those who had a dosage increase of their current prescription. "Our results identify the days following a new prescription or increased dose of a non-SSRI antidepressant as a window of time associated with a particularly high risk of falling among nursing home residents," said study author Dr. Sarah D. Berry, a scientist at the Institute for Aging Research of Hebrew SeniorLife in Boston. More closely monitoring these nursing home residents for two days after a change in these antidepressants could help prevent falls, the researchers said. In conducting the study, recently ... Read more

Related support groups: Depression, Lexapro, Zoloft, Cymbalta, Wellbutrin, Effexor, Prozac, Celexa, Paxil, Pristiq, Citalopram, Savella, Effexor XR, Fluoxetine, Bupropion

Chemo May Raise Risk of Falls in Breast Cancer Survivors

Posted 8 Mar 2011 by Drugs.com

FRIDAY, March 4 – Breast cancer survivors may be at increased risk for falls and broken bones due to the combined effects of chemotherapy and endocrine therapy, a new study suggests. Researchers looked at 59 postmenopausal breast cancer survivors, and found that 58 percent of them had experienced a fall in the year before the start of the study and 47 percent had a fall during the six-month study period. Those rates are much higher than the 25 percent to 30 percent annual fall rate reported for community-dwelling adults over 65 years old, noted Kerri M. Winters-Stone, an associate professor and associate scientist at Oregon Health & Science University (OHSU) School of Nursing, and colleagues. Balance was the only difference between breast cancer survivors who fell and those who did not. The researchers said their findings also suggest that balance problems may be due to ... Read more

Related support groups: Breast Cancer, Prevention of Falls

Popular Sleep Medicine Puts Older Adults at Risk for Falls, Cognitive Impairment

Posted 17 Jan 2011 by Drugs.com

BOULDER, Colo, Jan. 13, 2011 - Adults who take one of the world's most commonly prescribed sleep medications are significantly more at risk for nighttime falls and potential injury, according to a new study by the University of Colorado at Boulder. The study, which involved 25 healthy adults, showed 58 percent of the older adults and 27 percent of the young adults who took a hypnotic, sleep-inducing drug called zolpidem showed a significant loss of balance when awakened two hours after sleep. The findings are important because falls are the leading cause of injury in older adults, and 30 percent of adults 65 and older who fall require hospitalization each year, said CU-Boulder Associate Professor Kenneth Wright, lead study author. To measure balance, the research team used a technique known as a "tandem walk" in which subjects place one foot in front of the other with a normal step ... Read more

Related support groups: Ambien, Zolpidem, Ambien CR, Edluar, Prevention of Falls, Zolpimist

Falls as Serious for Elderly as Stroke, Heart Attack: Experts

Posted 13 Jan 2011 by Drugs.com

THURSDAY, Jan. 13 – Fall screening and prevention should be a regular part of health care for older adults, and all programs to prevent falls should include exercise, according to updated guidelines for preventing falls in the elderly. A summary of the American Geriatrics Society and British Geriatric Society recommendations – based on a review of fall prevention studies – appears Jan. 13 in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society. "Falls are one of the most common health problems experienced by older adults and are a common cause of losing functional independence. Given their frequency and consequences, falls are as serious a health problem for older persons as heart attacks and strokes," guideline panel co-chair Dr. Mary Tinetti, of Yale University School of Medicine, said in a journal news release. Doctors and other health professionals should ask older patients if they ... Read more

Related support groups: Prevention of Falls

Practicing Moving to Music May Help Elderly Avoid Falls

Posted 23 Nov 2010 by Drugs.com

TUESDAY, Nov. 23 – Exercising to music reduces the risk of falls among elderly people, researchers have found. The study included 134 Swiss adults, mostly women, average age 75.5 years, who were at increased risk of falling. They were assigned to either an intervention group that did a music-based multitask exercise program or a control group that did normal exercises. After the first six months, the participants switched groups for the next six months. The intervention program used an instructor-led one-hour weekly exercise program that featured multitask activities, including movements that were designed to challenge balance and become increasingly difficult over time. These exercises included walking in time to piano music and responding to changes in the music's rhythm. People in the intervention program showed greater improvement in balance and had 24 falls (a rate of 0.7 falls ... Read more

Related support groups: Prevention of Falls

Daily Dose of Vitamin D Helps Prevent Falls in Seniors

Posted 16 Jul 2010 by Drugs.com

FRIDAY, Oct. 2 – A daily high-dose vitamin D supplement can reduce the risk of falls in seniors, say researchers who reviewed the findings of eight fall prevention studies involving participants aged 65 and older. The analysis revealed that taking between 700 and 1,000 international units (IU) of supplemental vitamin D per day (vitamin D2 or D3) reduces falls by 19 percent and by up to 26 percent with vitamin D3. The beneficial effect was significant within two to five months of starting treatment, extended beyond 12 months, and was independent of age, type of dwelling, or additional calcium supplementation, the researchers noted. The study, published in the Oct. 2 online edition of BMJ, concluded that all people aged 65 and older should take at least 700 to 1,000 IU of supplemental vitamin D a day to reduce the risk of falling. Higher doses may be even more effective, which should be ... Read more

Chronic Pain Trips Up Seniors

Posted 1 Dec 2009 by Drugs.com

TUESDAY, Nov. 24 – Falls are a leading cause of death among older Americans, and new research confirms that chronic pain contributes to those accidents. "Pain contributes to functional decline and muscle weakness, and is associated with mobility limitations that could predispose to fall," the study authors wrote. "Chronic pain, no matter how we measured it, was associated with an increased likelihood of falls," said lead researcher Suzanne G. Leveille, from Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston and the University of Massachusetts. "Pain has not traditionally been thought of as a risk factor for falls." Health-care costs associated with falls account for more than $19 billion each year, but the role pain plays in those falls was not explored before, the authors said. Based on these findings, Leveille thinks that pain should be a factor in assessing the risk for falls. She also ... Read more