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Fitness & Exercise for Senior Citizens
Exercise Does Help Senior Citizens Improve Balance
Says Data from 34 Studies
Rising from a chair and standing on one leg is
enough to help
 Oct. 17, 2007 – It is not only the embarrassment of
being unsteady on your feet as you get older, but there is the increase
in the risk of a devastating fall for a senior citizen. Although many
studies have indicated that exercise can help the elderly maintain
balance, a new review of 34 studies confirms this to be true. Exercise
does help people stay steady on their feet in later years, when
diminished balance can put older people at risk of falls.
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The studies included in the analysis included more
than 2,800 participants. On average the study participants were over age
75, generally healthy, and the majority were women.
The review shows gains in balancing ability across
different groups of adults who participated in a variety of exercises
including walking, strength and balance training, dancing and tai chi.
Some of the balance exercises included rising from
a chair and training on one leg.
“Our message is that some form of exercise will
improve balance and it’s never too late to exercise. Specifically,
exercise that challenges your balance is best,” said lead review author
Tracey Howe.
The review appears in the latest issue of The
Cochrane Library, a publication of The Cochrane Collaboration, an
international organization that evaluates medical research. Systematic
reviews draw evidence-based conclusions about medical practice after
considering both the content and quality of existing medical trials on a
topic.
After engaging in an exercise program, study
participants achieved improvements in different kinds of balance
measures including walking speed, standing on one leg and reaching
forward without tipping over.
Health researchers want to learn more about balance
because they suspect it relates to an individual’s risk for falls.
In old age, falls can lead to disability and a loss
of independence. Howe said the review did not gauge the effect of
exercise on falls, so there is no way to tell from the review if balance
improvements led to fall prevention.
Still, Howe said, the balance gains documented in
the study are significant because balance is involved in almost
everything we do.
“You use it every time you move positions, even
walking. Walking is nothing more than movement without falling —
controlled falling,” said Howe, director of HealthQWest, a research
consortium based at Glasgow Caledonian University in Scotland.
“Good balance allows you to react to change. As
they get older, some people have problems with their muscles being
rigid. Think of the wind blowing through a tree. If the tree sways too
much, or if it is rigid, the tree will fall over. If you can sway with
the wind, by responding to the subtle changes in everyday life you are
more stable and less likely to fall,” she said.
The American College of Sports Medicine recently
revised its guidelines for older adults. The recommendations include
balance exercise for people who are at risk for falls, but the Cochrane
review did not find that one kind of exercise outperformed any other.
Healthy aging researcher Debra Rose said health
professionals need more information on how the risk of falls interacts
with different types of exercise.
“The type of physical activity or exercise that’s
appropriate is really going to be determined by a person’s level of risk
for falls,” said Rose, professor of kinesiology and co-director of the
Center for Successful Aging and Fall Prevention at California State
University, Fullerton.
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The story below contains a step-by-step
simple exercise program to build balance. |
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Developing Good Balance is Critical Element of
Healthy Aging
Indiana University researchers design program for older
people to improve balance
Sept. 20, 2005 - Balance has less to do with
strength and everything to do with an elderly person's ability to get
around and live independently. Yet, few people in their later years
think to practice balancing -- until it's too late. A study at Indiana
University Bloomington has produced a balance improvement program that
can be done at home.
Read more...
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“When you are at low risk for falls, there are lots
of exercise options, but the choices narrow as balance diminishes and
fall risk increases,” Rose said.
The reviewers’ analysis could not determine if the
balance gains for older adults were long lasting.
“I agree with the summary that there isn’t
sufficient evidence of the efficacy of exercise over the long term,”
said Rose. “There’s a notion that exercise is a quick fix — it isn’t. It
has to be incorporated into an overall lifestyle change.”
Editor’s Notes:
Howe, TE et al. Exercise for improving balance in
older people (Review). Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews 2007,
Issue 4.
The Cochrane Collaboration is an international
non-profit, independent organization that produces and disseminates
systematic reviews of health care interventions and promotes the search
for evidence in the form of clinical trials and other studies of
interventions. Visit
http://www.cochrane.org for
more information.
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