Broken heart, broken bones: Falls among elderly tied to depression
(Medical Xpress) -- A new NeuRA study has found that people suffering from depression are more likely to fall, pointing to a complex relationship between mental illness, a sense of balance, and falling in older people.
Falls are a major public health issue across the world as falling is a frequent cause of accidental death in older people.
Prof Stephen Lord at Neuroscience Research Australia (NeuRA) and colleagues studied a population of people 65 years of age and older in Taiwan.
“We’ve known that depression and falls are connected in older people for some time, but we were never able to determine whether depression itself or anti-depressants increase the rate of falling”, says Lord.
“But anti-depressants are not commonly taken by the people we studied and so for the first time we were able to measure lifestyle factors, rates of depression, and how often people fell without the effect of any depression-related medications”, Lord says.
This study means that in addition to enhancing vision, strength and balance, health programs around the world designed to prevent falling in older people also need to consider mental health.
“Now we know that depression and falls are interrelated, fall prevention strategies targeting older people need to also assess and treat depression to have the maximum impact”, Lord concluded.
This paper is published in the journal Age and Ageing.
Journal reference:
Age and Ageing
Provided by
Neuroscience Research Australia
-
Fear of falling linked to future falls in older people
Aug 19, 2010 |
not rated yet |
0
-
Depression not so clear cut for teens
Oct 12, 2010 |
not rated yet |
0
-
Antidepressants account for only 10% of fall in suicide rates among older people
Apr 15, 2008 |
not rated yet |
0
-
Exercise in elderly proven to improve quality of life
Jul 05, 2007 |
not rated yet |
0
-
Older people less likely to fall if they pay attention to their feet
Jun 21, 2011 |
not rated yet |
0
-
Motion perception revisited: High Phi effect challenges established motion perception assumptions
Apr 23, 2013 |
3 / 5 (2) |
2
-
Anything you can do I can do better: Neuromolecular foundations of the superiority illusion (Update)
Apr 02, 2013 |
4.5 / 5 (11) |
5
-
The visual system as economist: Neural resource allocation in visual adaptation
Mar 30, 2013 |
5 / 5 (2) |
9
-
Separate lives: Neuronal and organismal lifespans decoupled
Mar 27, 2013 |
4.9 / 5 (8) |
0
-
Sizing things up: The evolutionary neurobiology of scale invariance
Feb 28, 2013 |
4.8 / 5 (10) |
14
-
Classical and Quantum Mechanics via Lie algebras
Apr 15, 2011
- More from Physics Forums - Independent Research
More news stories
New research identifies risks, interventions for children's GI health
An increasing number of U.S. children are experiencing gastrointestinal issues that require interventions to resolve, according to research presented at Digestive Disease Week (DDW).
Health
15 hours ago |
not rated yet |
0
|
Youth who have their first drink during puberty have higher levels of later drinking
Research shows that the earlier the age at which youth take their first alcoholic drink, the greater the risk of developing alcohol problems. Thus, age at first drink (AFD) is generally considered a powerful predictor of ...
Health
May 17, 2013 |
not rated yet |
0
British MPs concerned about parliamentary boozing
One quarter of British lawmakers believe there is an "unhealthy" drinking culture in the Houses of Parliament, according to a survey published on Friday.
Health
May 17, 2013 |
not rated yet |
0
Patient openness to research can depend on race and sex of study personnel
Researchers at the University of Cincinnati (UC) have found that the race and sex of study personnel can influence a patient's decision on whether or not to participate in clinical research.
Health
May 17, 2013 |
not rated yet |
0
Clinical support for patient self-management is rhetoric rather than reality
The processes to allow people to self-manage their own illness are not being used appropriately by health professionals to the benefit of their patients, new research suggests.
Health
May 17, 2013 |
not rated yet |
0
Consuming coffee linked to lower risk of detrimental liver disease, study finds
Regular consumption of coffee is associated with a reduced risk of primary sclerosing cholangitis (PSC), an autoimmune liver disease, Mayo Clinic research shows. The findings were being presented at the Digestive Disease ...
Ketamine shows significant therapeutic benefit in people with treatment-resistant depression
Patients with treatment-resistant major depression saw dramatic improvement in their illness after treatment with ketamine, an anesthetic, according to the largest ketamine clinical trial to-date led by researchers from the ...
Research examines new methods for managing digestive health
Research presented at Digestive Disease Week (DDW) explores new methods for managing digestive health through diet and lifestyle.
New research identifies practice changes to improve value and quality of GI procedures
There are significant cost and risk factors associated with two procedures commonly used to diagnose or treat gastrointestinal problems, according to research presented at Digestive Disease Week (DDW).
New smartphone application improves colonoscopy preparation
The use of a smartphone application significantly improves patients' preparation for a colonoscopy, according to new research presented today at Digestive Disease Week (DDW). The preparation process, which begins days in ...
US psychiatry gets makeover in new manual
The latest makeover to a massive psychiatric tome honored by some, reviled by others and even called the "Bible" of mental disorders is being released Saturday with a host of new changes.
