United States: There’s a simple test available to seniors who want to quickly check how well they’re aging: watch how long one of you can balance on one leg with the other raised as high as possible.
A new study shows that people over 50 who can balance on one leg for thirty seconds are aging well if the leg they are balancing on is not their preferred one, as reported by HealthDay.
Balance: More Than Just Muscle Strength
Researchers said on Oct 23 in the PLOS One that this test provided a more accurate assessment of healthy aging than tests focused on strength of grip and knee or walking speed.
“Balance is an important measure because, in addition to muscle strength, it requires input from vision, the vestibular system, and the somatosensory systems,” said senior researcher Kenton Kaufman, director of the Motion Analysis Laboratory at Mayo Clinic.
“Changes in balance are noteworthy,” Kaufman added in a Mayo Clinic news release. “If you have poor balance, you’re at risk of falling, whether or not you’re moving. Falls are a severe health risk with serious consequences.”
Study Methodology and Findings
To do this, the researchers recruited 40 community-dwelling, ambulatory participants older than 50 to complete a battery of movement tasks. A distinguished half of the participants were below 65 years, whereas the other half was equivalent to or more than 65 years of age.
The test involved the participants standing on one leg for a duration of 30 seconds for each leg. They could, if they liked, hold the leg they weren’t standing on and remain awake with their eyes open.
The body postures of the participators included the participants standing on both feet bent and with their eyes closed.
The tasks that engaged the non-dominant leg best predict the most rapid deterioration in the senior’s ability with age, according to the research.
The grip and knee strength tests also demonstrated a general decrease over people’s lifetime but were not as closely linked to aging as balance.
Tips for Improving Balance
Kaufman pointed out that it is possible to work on balance, simply by standing on one leg and paying attention to the muscles used in this position.
It goes without saying that falls are the primary cause of injuries among seniors 65 and older, and most of these falls are unintentional, Main cause of these falls is loss of balance, as reported by HealthDay.
“If you use it, you maintain it,” Kaufman said. “It’s easy to do. It doesn’t require special equipment, and you can do it daily.”
