Monday, February 11, 2008

Trip and fall lately? Tell your doctor (AP)

This photo provided by Locomotion Research shows Linda Frazier uses a reflective ball, infrared system that bounces back to the camera marker, Friday, Feb. 8, 2008, at Virginia Polytechnic Institute in Blacksburg, Va. Trip and fall lately? Seniors often won't mention it unless they're hurt, but new guidelines say that first tumble is the best predictor of who's at risk for another, more serious fall. With deaths from falls increasing faster than the population is aging, the guidelines urge doctors to start asking their patients to 'fess up. Better would be to predict even that first fall. Researchers are hooking both the healthy and the frail to simple monitors that may one day tell who is unsteady enough to need help. Falls lead to 16,000 deaths, 500,000 hospitalizations and 1.8 million emergency room visits a year. (AP Photo/Locomotion Research, Jian Lui)AP - Trip and fall lately? Seniors often won't mention it unless they're hurt, but new guidelines say that first tumble is a good predictor of who's at risk for another, more serious fall. With deaths from falls increasing, the guidelines urge doctors to ask patients to 'fess up.


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