http://medicalxpress.com/ en-us Medical Xpress internet news portal provides the latest news on Health and Medicine. (Medical Xpress)—One in three people with rheumatoid arthritis, regardless of their age, will fall once or more times a year, according to a new University of Manchester study. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-04-people-rheumatoid-arthritis-high-falls.html Arthritis & Rheumatism Thu, 11 Apr 2013 07:26:33 EST news284883987 Tai Chi may reduce falls among adult stroke survivors, according to research presented at the American Stroke Association's International Stroke Conference 2013. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-02-tai-chi-falls-adult-survivors.html Cardiology Wed, 06 Feb 2013 13:15:42 EST news279378935 (Medical Xpress)—Equipping hospital beds with alarms does not decrease patient falls and related injuries, according to University of Florida researchers and colleagues. The findings, published Nov. 20 in the Annals of Internal Medicine, cast doubt on the merits of the widely touted alarms as a patient safety tool. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-11-bed-alarms-proven-patient-falls.html Health Wed, 21 Nov 2012 09:10:07 EST news272709032 Researchers have completed the first ever objective, real-life analysis of the causes and circumstances of falls in elderly people, which could lead to improvements in the understanding and prevention and of falls in this group. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-10-analysis-elderly-falls-fall.html Health Tue, 16 Oct 2012 18:30:03 EST news269625656 New research, launched today and funded by the Centre for Ageing Research and Development in Ireland (CARDI), shows that playing video games can help older people improve their balance and make them less likely to fall. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-10-specially-wii-games-falls.html Health Wed, 10 Oct 2012 09:07:19 EST news269078828 Engineers at Texas Tech University are developing technology that can predict when a person might fall – even days in advance. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-08-texas-tech-early-fall-risk-patients.html Health Wed, 22 Aug 2012 10:56:20 EST news264851766 Balance and strength training is known to reduce falls in older adults. However, less than 10% of older people routinely engage in strength training and it is likely that this is much lower for activities that challenge balance. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-08-strength-falls-older-people.html Health Tue, 07 Aug 2012 18:30:03 EST news263568300 When an elderly person suffers a fall it is in their best interests that help arrives as soon as possible, and for this reason most elderly people wear some form of alarm system that lets them contact emergency services directly when the worst happens. Therefore, with an ever ageing population, taking care of the elderly is a huge societal challenge and a priority for the EU, particularly considering injuries suffered by the elderly put a huge burden on heathcare services. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-07-social-media-fall-prone-elderly.html Health Mon, 16 Jul 2012 04:59:28 EST news261633557 (Medical Xpress) -- New research has shed light on the high risk of fractures, falls, and osteoporosis among epilepsy patients using antiepileptic drugs with most patients unaware of the risks associated with taking the drugs. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-06-epilepsy-drugs-fractures-falls.html Neuroscience Thu, 28 Jun 2012 05:51:37 EST news260081477 One in five short-stay nursing home patients sustains a fall after their admission, and certified nursing assistant (CNA) staffing is associated with decreased fall risk, according to a study in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-06-percent-newly-nursing-home-residents.html Health Wed, 20 Jun 2012 09:17:38 EST news259402565 (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. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-06-broken-heart-bones-falls-elderly.html Health Fri, 15 Jun 2012 09:15:16 EST news258970505 The recent dramatic increase in the fall death rate in older Americans is likely the effect of improved reporting quality, according to a new report from the Johns Hopkins Center for Injury Research and Policy. The report finds the largest increase in the mortality rate occurred immediately following the 1999 introduction of an update to the International Classification of Diseases (ICD-10), suggesting a major change in the way deaths were classified. Several research studies, including one by the report's authors, found that rates of fatal falls among seniors had risen as much as 42 percent between 2006 and 2006. The results are published in the May-June issue of Public Health Reports. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-05-older-adult-fall-deaths-due.html Health Tue, 15 May 2012 10:52:18 EST news256297925 (Medical Xpress) -- A first of its kind study conducted by researchers at Boston Medical Center (BMC)’s Injury Prevention Center (IPC) found that one fall requiring first responder emergency medical services response occurs, on average, approximately every 56 hours at Boston Logan International Airport, with 37 percent of those incidents involving transport to a hospital. The study, which was done at the request of the Massachusetts Port Authority and Massport Fire/Rescue, concludes that diverting at-risk passengers from escalators to elevators could significantly reduce the number of falls. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-04-bmc-passengers-elevators-falls-logan.html Health Thu, 12 Apr 2012 10:34:33 EST news253445668 The ambulance service response to emergency calls for elderly falls patients varies widely across the UK, reveals research published online in Emergency Medicine Journal. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-03-wide-variation-emergency-response-elderly.html Health Tue, 27 Mar 2012 04:06:50 EST news252039992 Hip fractures are a common cause of morbidity and mortality in elderly patients. Cervical myelopathy is a common neurological condition that can diminish balance and coordination. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-02-undiagnosed-neurological-disorders-falls-hip.html Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes Thu, 09 Feb 2012 14:51:02 EST news248021454 (Medical Xpress) -- It’s a scenario played out all too frequently: Adult children, worried about the safety of their aging parents, foist devices on them to monitor their safety. And their parents, resentful of having their privacy invaded and losing their independence, resist fiercely. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-02-fall-device-standoffs-seniors-safer.html Health Fri, 03 Feb 2012 07:35:10 EST news247476879 (Medical Xpress) -- Working-age adults who take combinations of prescription medication may be doubling their risk of serious falls at home according to research from The University of Auckland. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-01-multiple-medicines-fall-young-middle.html Medications Mon, 23 Jan 2012 07:34:42 EST news246526473 Nursing home residents with dementia who use average doses of selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) are three times more likely to have an injurious fall than similar people who don't use these drugs. The association can be seen in people who use low doses of SSRIs and the risk increases as people take higher doses. The results are published in the British Journal of Clinical Pharmacology. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-01-nursing-home-residents-dementia-antidepressants.html Health Thu, 19 Jan 2012 04:40:03 EST news246168702 (Medical Xpress) -- A world-first Queensland University of Technology (QUT) study has found that people suffering from more extensive vision loss from glaucoma are at a higher risk of having a fall than those with better vision. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-11-people-vision-loss-glaucoma-higher.html Health Wed, 09 Nov 2011 10:31:17 EST news240056990 In 2008, as part of a larger initiative aimed at reducing preventable hospital errors and lowering costs, Medicare stopped reimbursing for the treatment of injuries related to in-hospital falls. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-10-link-elderly-patient-hospital-falls.html Health Fri, 28 Oct 2011 12:58:01 EST news239025475 A study carried out by the Primary Care Research Group at the Peninsula College of Medicine and Dentistry, supported by the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) and NIHR PenCLAHRC, has analysed the results of an exercise programme to prevent falls in those with Parkinson's disease. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-10-falls-parkinson-disease.html Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes Wed, 12 Oct 2011 09:49:44 EST news237631764 Almost 60 per cent of people who have a stroke experience one or more falls afterwards – most often in their own homes – and some are left with serious injuries, according to a study released today at the Canadian Stroke Congress. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-10-major-falls.html Cardiology Mon, 03 Oct 2011 03:12:59 EST news236830352 ROSEMONT, Ill.–While falls are a common cause of injury, particularly in older, hospitalized patients, some may not be as preventable as once thought. According to a new literature review published in the Journal of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons (JAAOS), many of the risks that frequently cause falls are not adequately addressed with the fall prevention initiatives used in healthcare facilities. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-07-in-hospital-falls.html Health Wed, 06 Jul 2011 15:01:50 EST news229183302 A new technology to stop falls before they happen could help the elderly stay in their own homes longer. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-07-youre-fall.html Health Mon, 04 Jul 2011 06:07:47 EST news228978448 During the winter of 2009-2010 the average temperature for the UK was 1.6 degrees centigrade (°C), making it the coldest recorded winter in the last 30 years. Using winter data from 2005 to 2010, new research published in BioMed Central's open access journal Environmental Health demonstrates an inverse relationship between temperature and the number of falls on snow and ice, which result in emergency admission to hospital, and looks at the cost of these falls. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-06-cold-winters-emergency-treatment-falls.html Health Fri, 17 Jun 2011 03:52:05 EST news227501512 Researchers at Vanderbilt University Medical Center had noticed that, despite a hospital-wide program to prevent patient falls, the cardiovascular progressive care unit experienced an increase in the rate of patient falls. To address the problem, investigators reviewed current literature about fall prevention and designed an education program. Using some basic guidelines from Ryu, Roche, and Brunton (2009), the program incorporated education for patients as well as families and included a booklet and a poster for each patient room. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-05-heart-patients-families-hospital-falls.html Health Sun, 15 May 2011 11:40:51 EST news224678400