Yes, you can prevent falls!

Falls suffered by seniors were once thought to be as inevitable as white hair or rounded backs. Now they are considered preventable events, with a variety of causes and outcomes that call for special interventions that most seniors never get.

Falls, regardless of how minor the resulting injury, can give solid advance warning of something wrong. Falls can be like strokes in the degree of harm they can do to the patient. While some patients do recover from the injury, for many others it can lead to a host of physical and emotional problems, such as social isolation, depression, muscle atrophy, and pneumonia.

Yet many older people avoid reporting falls or asking for help. They are afraid their families will consider them unable to take care of themselves and move them to nursing homes.

According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, more than a third of adults aged 65 and older in the U.S. suffer falls at least once each year.

In 2005, the latest year for which data are available, the CDC said 1.8 million people age 65 and over seniors received treatments in hospital emergency rooms for nonfatal injuries and 15,800 seniors died as a result of injuries from unintentional falls.

Up to 30 percent of people who fall sustain severe injuries including hip fractures and head traumas. These injuries make it difficult for the patient to move around and reduce their ability to live independently. The risks of early death also increase.

The loss of 15,800 lives due to complications from fall-related injuries is unfortunate. But what may not always be seen in the statistics are those who survive the direct effects of falls but live a little longer with the consequences.

This is where depression can set in, as they find it difficult emotionally to accept their situation. The limited ability to get around makes the patient waste away faster. About 20 percent of seniors who suffer hip fractures die within twelve months after they undergo surgery for the injury.

Physical trauma can be extensive in falls. Older people used to taking five medications on the average may suddenly need ten medications when they suffer a fall. This can seriously undermine their body systems already weakened by age.

Psychological trauma may even be more devastating. They lose confidence, they stop going to places they used to, and they become socially isolated.

To some extent, falls are preventable.  The person may be advised to change their gait and to try keeping their blood pressure low. Doctors may try to treat health conditions like arrhythmia and declining vision.

Safety Tips:

* Engage in regular exercise, especially exercises that improve balance and muscle strength, like Tai Chi.

* Ask your doctor to review your medicines, with the object to lessen side effects.

* Make sure to have your eyes/vision checked at least once every year.

* Make the lighting in your home brighter to aid your vision.

* Have loose rugs removed.

* Have your home hazard-checked to remove potential causes for falls.