Balance exercises reduce seniors’ risk of falling
By Joene Hendry
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Combined findings from multiple studies indicate that exercise programs, especially those that include balance training, do reduce falls among elderly people.
Examples of successful falls prevention programs include “Tai Chi and home-based or group-based exercise prescribed by a health professional,” Dr. Catherine Sherrington told Reuters Health.
On the other hand, walking programs did not appear to have much effect in preventing falls, Sherrington and her colleagues report in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society.
Sherrington, at The George Institute for International Health, in Sydney, Australia, and colleagues assessed the reduction of falls with exercise programs in 44 trials. A total of 9,603 mostly community-living men and women, 65 percent of whom were 75 years of age or older, participated in the trials.
Pooled data from these trials showed that exercise programs were associated with a 17 percent reduction in the occurrence of falls.
The greatest effect in preventing falls were seen with exercises that highly challenged balance, such as standing with legs closer together or on one leg, and programs that included a higher total “dose” of exercise, for example at least 2 days a week for more than 25 weeks.
Fall prevention was also better when programs “did not include a walking program,” Sherrington’s team reports, and strength training also lacked benefit in this regard.
The researchers surmise that walking may expose older people to a greater risk of falling or, in time-limited programs, may take the place of time spent on more effective balance training. Strength training alone may not effectively reduce falls, the investigators note, since “impaired balance is a stronger risk factor for falls than poor muscle strength.”
Sherrington’s group calls for further research to investigate whether well-designed walking programs can prevent falls.
They further suggest research into methods to entice larger numbers of older people to engage in falls prevention exercises.
SOURCE: Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, December 2008
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Related Posts:
By Megan Rauscher NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Older adults who regularly take part in top-rated, low-cost physical activity programs offered by their local senior center or YMCA can see noticeable improvement in physical functioning and lower their risk of becoming disabled, research shows. “Older adults can benefit greatly from these programs,” Susan L. Hughes told Reuters
Full Post: The best exercise programs benefit the elderly
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Organized exercise designed to increase strength, flexibility, mobility and coordination may improve overall physical function among nursing home patients with Alzheimer’s disease, researchers report. Alzheimer’s disease patients who have physically deteriorated are less able to perform activities of daily life, which, in turn, affects their quality of life. Despite the well-known
Full Post: Exercise may improve function in dementia patients
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
By Anthony J. Brown, MD NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - As levels of parathyroid hormone rise, so does the risk of falls in older, well-functioning men and women with diabetes, according to findings from the Health, Aging and Body Composition (Health ABC) Study. Results from a number of studies have suggested that high levels of parathyroid hormone
Full Post: Hormone linked to falls in older diabetic adults
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
By Joene Hendry NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Suicide has not declined among elderly people living in long-term care facilities as it has among community-living elders, research hints. In a review of the 1,771 suicide deaths between 1990 and 2005 among New York City residents aged 60 and older, researchers found a significant decrease in the relative
Full Post: Elder suicide risk persists in long-term care
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - In overweight or obese women, physical activity, even at light or moderate intensities, lowers the risk of cancer of the lining of the uterus (endometrial cancer), according to findings from the American Cancer Society’s prospective Cancer Prevention Study II Nutrition Cohort study. Dr. Alpa V. Patel and colleagues at the American
Full Post: Exercise may cut uterine cancer risk in heavy women