High Blood Pressure May Lead to Falls in the Elderly

    By Jeff Behar

Falls - A Serious Issue for the Elderly
The rates of fall-related deaths among older adults rose significantly over the past decade. 16,o00 people 65 and older died from injuries related to unintentional falls; about 1.8 million people 65 and older were treated in emergency departments for nonfatal injuries from falls, and more than 433,000 of these patients were hospitalized (CDC 2005).
The National Safety Council estimates that persons over the age of 65 have the highest mortality rate (death rate) from injuries. Among older adults, injuries cause more deaths than either pneumonia or diabetes.
As alarming as they are, these documented statistics fall short of the actual number since many incidents are unreported by seniors and unrecognized by family members or caregivers.
Some of the Alarming Statistics

• Annually, falls are reported by one-third of all people 65 and older.
• Two-thirds of the elderly who fall will fall again within six months.
• Falls are the leading cause of death from injury among people 65 or over.
• The elderly account for seventy-five percent of deaths from falls.
• Approximately 9,500 deaths in older Americans are associated with falls each year.
• Nearly 85% of deaths from falls are among people 75 and older.
• More than half of all fatal falls involve people 75 or over.

“At age 60, 85 percent of people have a normal walking ability. However, by age 85, only 18 percent of seniors can walk normally,” said study author Farzaneh A. Sorond, MD, PhD, with Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Hebrew SeniorLife’s Institute for Aging Research and Harvard Medical School in Boston and a member of the American Academy of Neurology. For the study, researchers followed 419 people age 65 or older. Ultrasound tests were used to measure brain blood flow response to carbon dioxide levels, a standard test of blood vessel function in the brain. Walking speed was measured by a four-meter walking test. The seniors and their caregivers reported any falls that occurred over two years.
The study found that the 20 percent of people who had the smallest blood flow changes in the brain were at a 70 percent higher risk of falling compared to the 20 percent of people who had the largest blood flow changes in the brain. Those with the slowest rate had an average of nearly 1.5 falls per year, compared to less than one fall per year for those with the highest rate.
“Our findings suggest there could be a new strategy for preventing falls, such as daily exercise and treatments for high blood pressure, since blood pressure affects blood flow in the brain and may cause falls,” said Sorond.
The study supported by a donation from Dr. Fatemeh Khosroshahi to the Brigham Women’s Hospital and by grants to Dr. Farzaneh Sorond and Dr. Lewis A. Lipsitz from the National Institute on Aging is part of MOBILIZE Boston (Maintenance of Balance, Independent Living, Intellect and Zest in the Elderly).