Prime Time Living 9.24.25 - Flipbook - Page 8
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A Special Advertising Section of Baltimore Sun Media Group | Wednesday, September 24, 2025
HEALTH
Fear of Falling
As we age, the likelihood of
falling increases
By Margit B. Weisgal, Contributing Writer
M
y cousin, Shirley, was coming to Baltimore and high on her list was a visit to
the zoo, something she used to do a lot when she lived here. I was happy to
join her since we don’t see each other often enough. After a couple hours,
it was time to call it quits. Fewer than three yards from the exit, she tripped over an
uneven break in the sidewalk and went right down, face first. Those around us were
amazing. They brought water and baby wipes and asked how they could help. After
the hubbub died down, someone from security walked us to the car. Aside from a few
scrapes, she was fine.
She had learned how to fall. More
about that later.
According to the Centers for Disease
Control, each year, 3 million older people
are treated in emergency departments for
fall injuries.
The CDC adds that in fact, more than
one of every four older people falls each
year, but less than half tell their doctor.
Falling one time doubles your chances of
falling again. And on June 26, 2025, an
article by the Associated Press carried
this headline: Death rates from unintentional falls rising for older U.S. adults.
Knowing all this, why are the rates of
injury and death on the rise? It could be
that researchers are paying more atten-
tion to the role falls play as we age. And
this demographic – adults over 65 – is
almost a quarter of the population.
On the plus side, according to the
National Council on Aging (NCOA),
“through practical lifestyle adjustments,
evidence-based falls prevention programs, and clinical-community partnerships, the number of falls among older
adults can be substantially reduced.”
Brittany Samulski, P.T., D.P.T., Ph.D.,
assistant professor in the school of
rehabilitation sciences at Old Dominion
University, has focused her research
on developing a comprehensive test
to understand why someone falls. She
spoke with me about how we look at falls,
what we can do to prevent them, and
about our physical aging.
“Falling is not just an
older adult issue.
It occurs across ages
and lifestyles.”
“Falling is not part of aging; it’s a reality across the lifespan and happens to
everyone,” Samulski says. “The leading
causes of falls are divided into extrinsic
and intrinsic factors. Extrinsic factors
include accidents and environment, gait
or balance disorder, dizziness and vertigo. Intrinsic factors include confusion,
visual issues and hypotension (a significant drop in your blood pressure). And
active people fall more frequently.
“Keep in mind, a fall is not necessarily
a death sentence. The fear of falling is a
greater danger. There are many components involved in falling: reaction time,
balance, vision (depth perception), and
edge contrast sensitivity. People who
wear bifocals have a high risk, and when
they look down, the ability to differentiate
between, say, a curb and the street, may
be a problem for them. An ear infection
can cause a problem with balance.
“When people fall and get an injury, no
one addresses why they fall and how to
deal with it. We need to figure that out.
And, again, the fear of falling is often
why someone falls a second time. It’s in
their thoughts. That can be addressed by
discussing how older adults assess risk
taking. With age, our frontal cortex, the
part of our brain that houses our executive functions, begins to atrophy. We have
to make efforts to challenge our brain, so
it compensates through improved connectedness. This is why so many organizations that work with older adults harp
on the need to keep your brain active,
especially as you age.
“Everyone has their own tolerance for
risk. It’s something we should talk about
across all facets of our lives. For example, you talk with your financial advisor,
and you discuss how much risk you can
handle. When you’re young, you are more
willing to try different things, accept higher risk. However, as you age, you may tell
your financial advisor to be more conservative. The same is true with how we
Fear of Falling
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