According to the UK Government: “People aged 65 and older have the highest risk of falling; around a third of people aged 65 and over, and around half of people aged 80 and over, fall at least once a year. ”

While younger people may not experience much harm from falling, the UK Government outlines that for older people, it is more likely to be harmful and can occur due to worrying factors such as:

• muscle weakness
• poor balance
• visual impairment
• polypharmacy – and the use of certain medicines
• environmental hazards
• some specific medical conditions, which might make a person more likely to fall

Now, researchers in the US have revealed that a fall could accelerate dementia in elderly people.

Falls in older people linked to dementia

According to the researchers, older adults who experience injurious falls are more likely to develop dementia within a year of their accident compared to people of the same age who have other kinds of physical injuries.

“It is possible that falls serve as a sentinel event that marks a future risk for dementia,” explain physician Alexander Ordoobadi from Brigham and Women’s Hospital and colleagues in their paper.

“This study’s findings suggest support for the implementation of cognitive screening in older adults who experience an injurious fall.”

Epidemiologist Molly Jarman from Brigham and Women’s Hospital expands on this, saying: “The relationship between falls and dementia appears to be a two-way street.

“Cognitive decline can increase the likelihood of falls, but trauma from those falls may also accelerate dementia’s progression and make a diagnosis more likely down the line.”

How to reduce risk of falls in the elderly

The UK Government recommends that doing activities to build muscle, bone and joint strength as well as balance should be undertaken twice a week. These include:

• Exercising with weights 
• Ball games
• Racquet sports
• Resistance training
• Circuit training 
• Nordic walking