Getting older is a very dangerous disease. After all, no one leaves this planet alive unless you’re an astronaut. But even astronauts face the same problems on earth as we do. As we all get older, we’re likely to die from one of the big killers, heart failure, stroke, or cancer. But there’s another threat, falling down! It’s been said, “Never let a stumble in the road be the end of the journey”. Sounds easy, but the figures of elderly falls would make the dead sit up and take notice.
The risk of falling increases with age, and is greater for women than men. Each year falls are reported by one-third of people over the age of 65 and the leading cause of death. It gets worse. More than half of falls involving people 75 and older are fatal. And 25 percent of seniors who break a hip from a fall die within six months.