This May, at the American Geriatric Society(AGS) conferences in Chicago, hundreds of physicians from around the world attended a seminar on the topic of falls in the senior population. The study which was presented pointed to several results:
· Falls among seniors are largely preventable
· 2/3rds of accidental deaths are from falls
· Fall injuries are the 5th leading cause of death
Further, the AGS states that balance function need not be lost if seniors would seek medical help when signs of instability or dizziness occur. Unfortunately, many seniors don’t get help because they fail to recognize their problem or they don’t want to have family members think that instability means a trip to the nearest nursing home.
In their 2001 report, the AGS reported that fear of falling, near falls, or actual falls was the most common reason for seniors seeing their physicians. For years, seniors and their doctors have assumed that balance loss and resulting falls are an unavoidable effect of the aging process. Not true, says a study by the U.S. Center for Disease Control, which states that dizziness and reduced balance function is not part of the normal aging process.
Until recently, doctors had few diagnostic or treatment options for their patients. Consequently, medications such as antivert, meclizine and valium became common treatments for the dizzy patient. Recent diagnostic technologies can now provide doctors with important information to identify the cause or causes of a patient’s dizziness and balance disorders. Armed with the appropriate diagnostic information, doctors can now work with patients to affect an extremely successful Balance Correction Therapy program.
Fall Prevention Clinics of America is Chicagoland’s premier M.D. driven practice, specializing in the diagnosis and treatment of dizziness and balance disorders for all ages. We are highly successful at helping people to reduce or eliminate dizziness and improve their balance function.
Editor’s note: This article was submitted by Michael Bearce. To make an appointment or for more information call: Fall Prevention Clinics of America, 630/305-0403 or go to www.FallPreventionClinics.com.