US Senior Citizens Increasingly Dying from Falls

VaughanJB

VaughanJB

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SOURCE: US senior citizens are increasingly dying from this mishap

Older U.S. adults are increasingly dying from unintentional falls, according to a new federal report published Wednesday, with white people accounting for the vast majority of the deaths.

From 2003 to 2023, death rates from falls rose more than 70% for adults ages 65 to 74, the report from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said. The rate increased more than 75% for people 75 to 84, and more than doubled for seniors 85 and older.

Yeah, the dreaded fall, broken hip, the immobility it brings. Stand straight people!
 

And it's not just from poor balance. Know some who had edema so bad they couldn't feel their feet at times which made them unaware of the surface below them it. trips, stumbles. In the meantime the doctor is telling them get their ears checked for fluid issues.

In the end part of preventing falls as a senior is fitness including heart health and general strength.
 
Agree that maintaining general good health, as well as paying attention when moving about are both helpful in fall prevention. To that end there are numerous videos by medical professionals on YouTube with suggestions for maintaining or even improving general health. No need to go to 'classes' or groups unless it's medically prescribed rehab therapy after an injury/illness or you want the social aspect of them.

Also i would suggest that if you have physical issues that have led a doctor to recommend a cane or walker, perhaps just temporarily as you heal from something don't let stubborn pride keep you from using an aid. Particularly situationally-- when we have deep winter snows, i park the car up by the road to ensure we can get out (daughter to work and to stores).

We have a very long driveway. i have for the last 5 years used a tall Walking Stick as an aid to finding solid footing and staying upright. Our house is on elevated section of land so about 5 feet of that (the uphill when coming home actually less dicey than downhill in snow). I use the same stick when 'hiking' around our acreage as there is a lot if uneven ground.
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My Irish Grandma, Nell, had 2 or 3 falls in her last couple of decades of life. At 98 she had to be hospitalized after one. The night she came home from the hospital she died peacefully in her sleep. I have always suspected she decided it was time to let go this life. Being Catholic she would never actively pursue death, but no doubt my paternal aunts and uncles had started 'inviting' her to live with them or enter a 'facility'. Neither would have suited her. So she let go.
 
I try to be very careful when going up/down steps/stairs. About 3 months ago, my wife was rushing down the basement stairs and took a nasty fall. I had to rush her to the hospital where they found that she had cracked the socket in her right shoulder. Luckily, it didn't require surgery, but she has had to go to therapy twice a week, to get a bunch of exercises that will hopefully restore most functions. In the meantime, I've had to assume many of the household functions as she heals.
 
fuzzybuddy said:
It's not really the broken hip or other bones that is the cause of death. It is the inactivity that leads to pneumonia, which is a leading cause of death in falls.
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I think that was the case with my grandfather. He was very mobile then he broke his hip and became bedridden, and then came the pneumonia. He had been having spells of being light headed before the fall. They did a scan and didn‘t find any sign of plaque in the arteries and his heart was normal. He wasn’t on any medication either. The doctor said if anything, his circulatory system was too “open.” Anyway, age 99, he had a long and healthy life.
 
I've been hearing so much about this lately, it's got me feeling fearful whenever I walk anywhere, from bed to bathroom or on mile long walks outdoors. And I do feel shakier than I used to. I fit the profile set forth in the OP: white and 79. I keep telling myself to start doing exercises I found online that help specifically with balance and strength; I have yet to do them.
 
Marcy Sheiner said:
I've been hearing so much about this lately, it's got me feeling fearful whenever I walk anywhere, from bed to bathroom or on mile long walks outdoors. And I do feel shakier than I used to. I fit the profile set forth in the OP: white and 79. I keep telling myself to start doing exercises I found online that help specifically with balance and strength; I have yet to do them.
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Start simple with just one or two kinds once they are habit and you're seeing positive results from them it might be easier to make time for more.
 
Though my balance was fine, I tripped and fell 4 times--no injuries. They were at a time I wore bulky slippers around the apt. and would 'catch' the toe of my drooping left slipper on the wooden floor, but the 4th time (about 3 years ago) I stubbed the toe of my left slipper on my living room carpet and, as I fell forward, my right foot came down in front of me. I pushed down hard on it and propelled myself face first into the back of my couch a few feet away. :LOL: I dumped the slippers. These days, since my balance is iffy, I always use a walker as I move around. The carpets are gone so it's easy to do.
 
oscash said:
I was just looking on my sister's Facebook page, one of her dear friends died yesterday after hitting his head on the corner of the doorway, at home, he was rushed to hospital and put into ICU, there was nothing they could do to save him, and the family decided to turn the machines off.
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How old was he?
 
Fifteen years ago I fell down the three steps from house to garage took my full weight on my left knee breaking the femur, the tibia, the knee cap, and tearing four ligaments. Everything healed but one of the ligaments, but lack of that MCL means walking wobbly with a cane ever since.

My doc said that after such a fall a person's heart health goes steeply down hill, ( he showed me a nasty graph,) so I've tried to keep my heart working by still doing all my housework (vacuuming is a great workout because the sweeper handle serves as a second cane) and doing some exercise every day while holding on to the kitchen counter.
feywon said:
Also i would suggest that if you have physical issues that have led a doctor to recommend a cane or walker, perhaps just temporarily as you heal from something don't let stubborn pride keep you from using an aid
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Yes! I use my cane all the time and I have a wheel chair that I bring out whenever I have the slightest illness.
 
For me, it's pavements (walkways outside). I'm aware that I've become far more sensitive to ground that isn't level. A small bump in the pavement can cause an issue. I put this down to my left knee and my arthritis. Simple mechanics suggest that I just don't lift my feet as high when walking as I used to, causing me to trip.

Mind, I've not yet taken a full tumble.

The last actual fall I had was due to rain and mud. I was walking my dog, and the ground beneath my leading foot turning into a long slide, and down I went. Strangely, I felt great pain in my left knee - as expected - and laying there I was quite concerned that I'd done something terrible to it. However, when I rose, the fall had had the opposite effect! The knee felt BETTER.

This is an instance I'm not going to retry, and I blame my dog, although frankly, it was nothing to do with him. :D
 

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