fashionable walker

Fashionable walkers and designer canes at BrokenBeauties.com >>More

Twist & Stretch for Better Balance

Karen Voight | 11.17.08

Los Angeles Times

Performing twists can help correct imbalances you may have between the right and left sides of your body. They can also add strength and power to your core and your upper body muscles.

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Preventing Falls Among Older Adults

Fact Sheets

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

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For Women, Red Flags About a Hip Device

Barry Meier | 11.07.08

New York Times

Even as patients in this country continue to undergo an increasingly popular alternative to traditional hip replacement surgery, medical researchers both here and abroad are raising warning flags about the technique’s use in women. >>More

Fear of Falling

The 70-Something Blog

Judy F Kugel | 11.09.08

I was extra cautious when I rode my bike to work in the rain on Friday. A few days of rain, drizzle and fog had left the fallen leaves slippery, and I didn't want to chance skidding if I had to brake suddenly.

I didn't used to be concerned about falling off my bike, although I've always watched for potholes and car doors opening in my path. But at 70, I feel more vulnerable. >>More

Falls and Injuries Center at Health and Age

Resource for articles and news >>More

Once Just an Aging Sign, Falls Merit Complex Care

John Lelend

New York Times | 11.07.07

MEDFORD, N. J. — Katherine Aliminosa, 93, shattered her lower leg while getting snacks for her nieces.

Susan Arnold, 87, broke her hip hanging a photograph.

In mid-July, in a nursing unit of a retirement community here, the two women were at the start of a recovery process that both hoped would return them to their previous lives.

Their progress over the next few months, and their divergent outcomes, illustrate the unpredictable impact that common falls can have on the bodies of older people. >>More

Human airbag protects frail seniors when they fall

Unveiled at the International Home Care and Rehabilitation Exhibition in Tokyo the People's airbag is er..under development at the Prop company in Japan.

The two-part airbag is strapped around the body and inflates in 0.1 seconds if it detects it is accelerating towards the ground. One airbag is behind the head and the other around the hips and the sensors are on a vest strapped round the wearer's waist. >>More

Assess Your Risk of Falling

Questions to help discover risk of falling and answers too. >>Download

Older People & Injuries

Senior Injury

The single biggest cause of injury among seniors is falling and the most common injury is a broken hip. the second largest cause of injury among older adults is automobile accidents.

Other causes are elder abuse and residential fire-related injuries. Injury among older adults is such a serious threat to health and well-being that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is paying close attention. >>More

Falls Are A Serious Matter for Older Persons

More than one third of adults 65 and older fall each year. Falls are the leading cause of injury deaths and the most common cause of hospital admissions for trauma.

Older people sometimes limit their activity because they are afraid of falling.

Falling and the results of falling is a serious matter among older people. In Paul Kleyman's article for Aging Today, he discusses this matter and how to prevent falls and injuries in detail. It can be downloaded here. >>Download

How To Prevent Falling

Balance can be improved by strengthening the muscles in the legs and back. Tai Chi is a strength training exercise program that is actually fun. Tai Chi is recommended for seniors by the Centers for Disease Control and classes are available through just about every senior and recreation center. >>More

Other Strength Training Exercises:

Of course there are all sorts of strength training exercises and there are ways to strengthen our body with everyday activities. Here are a few:

Try standing with the knees slightly bent while conducting routine daily activities such as shaving or putting on makeup.

Gardening is a wonderful source of exercise

Go up and down any set of stairs an extra time

Every day, get down on the floor and up again. Look under the bed, clean the edges of the kitchen floor, look for something that has fallen.

Each day, these activities will become easier, muscles will get stronger, and balance will improve.

Senior Automobile Accidents

Seniors 65 and over are second-most likely to die in car accidents after teenagers.

From a 2006 study coauthored by

Richard Kent, Assistant Professor

Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering

University of Virginia:

“The archetypical elderly driver fatality involves a belted, sober driver pulling into the path of an oncoming vehicle during the day and dying several days after a collision of moderate severity..."

The AARP offers driver safety program for seniors in just about every city. >>More

The AARP also offers a very useful list of warning signs that it is time to stop driving. >>More