Comment by rob74
Occam's razor says it's less likely that the gravitational constant is increasing and more likely that the ability to withstand the pull of gravity decreases with age.
Occam's razor says it's less likely that the gravitational constant is increasing and more likely that the ability to withstand the pull of gravity decreases with age.
People rollerblade less.
I read that fall injuries in the elderly are a significant contributor to both death and drops in quality of life.
When it comes to proprioception and balance one group of people over 60 seem to have equivalent balance to younger people and that is certain kinds of rollerbladers.
So as a person who was relatively active (40mi+ per week biking and other things) I started rollerblading and it's been unbelievable, I'm older and certain types of movements that take 8yr olds a couple weeks to learn took me nearly a year, it's absolutely amazing though, pain and soreness in parts of my leg and feet all related to stabilization, significantly strengthened stabilization muscles and improved reaction times at speed. I figure if I can rollerblade on one foot at 15 miles an hour, walking with both feet at 3 should be no problem.
I put rollerblading and bouldering as my top two 'puzzle' based activities.
Yoga is a great idea but many who find it boring are getting the same poses at 15mph and with more dynamic load and interruption (due to rocks and other high speed road defects.) There is quite a bit of overlap but unless you are doing acro yoga there is also quite a bit that doesn't overlap.
Well of course old people fall more, but the article is about changes over the last 20 years.
...Oh wait, are you saying there are more old people now? That's interesting.
Which was specifically addressed early in the article.
Not only are there more falls among the elderly, there are more falls even fully accounting for changes in age composition of the population.
>>But an aging population only partially explains the rise in these deaths. Deaths by falls have risen 2.4-fold on an age-adjusted basis. While they have fallen among younger people and only risen slightly among the middle aged, they have risen substantially within every age bracket of the elderly.
Article says age-adjusted fall rates are up substantially, so it's not just older population.