Falling in love is so much better than falling down
[Music]
i’m a pathologist by training
that’s a doctor that does autopsies and
lab tests in some ways
i deal with death and dying but what i
learn
can also help save lives i’m going to
talk about falling down
the serious injuries that can happen and
what we all can do
to prevent falls why is talking about
falling down so important to me
it’s personal i have my own story to
tell
and my sister fell and was seriously
injured
she’s recovering but it’s taking a long
time
falls can be a common occurrence as we
get older
but they don’t have to be falling down
is not a normal part of aging
the truth is most falls can be prevented
once we know the risks associated with
falling
let me tell you my story i don’t
remember
exactly how it happened i was watching
my favorite tv show
deadly women on id and i got up to go to
the kitchen
and then i was lying on the floor with
broken dishes
i couldn’t explain what happened
my family was concerned that i might
have had a mini stroke
how can you not remember falling down
so i went to the doctor and i got
checked out
and everything was fine
you might have seen that video of oprah
falling on stage
she got up and she went right on with
the show
she didn’t even drop the microphone
i’m still trying to figure out how she
did that
afterwards she was talking to her friend
gail
who said that she would have been
embarrassed falling
oprah said she was not embarrassed at
all
people fall but when i fell
i was embarrassed
when we’re children we fall down we
laugh we get up and fall down again just
for the fun of it
but as an adult falling down that’s seen
as
shameful or something to be embarrassed
about
and i’ll be honest if no one had known
that i had fallen
i would have kept it a secret
so with the information i’m going to
share today
i want to take the secrecy
out of falling down
so as a doctor after my experience
falling
i wanted to find out as much information
as i could about the risks associated
with falling
the cdc website has a wealth of
information
all of us are affected by falls
either personally or someone that we
love or care for
falls are the leading cause of injury
related deaths
in people 65 and older
every 19 minutes an older person
dies from a fall that’s 73 deaths
a day the risk of falling down
and breaking a hip and sustaining a
brain injury
increases with age and once a person
falls
the risk of falling again doubles
and then there’s the whole baby boomer
situation
i looked at census data and in the next
few years
the population 65 and older will be the
majority population
in the united states so we expect to see
more falls
but there are actions that we can take
falls have a tremendous cost in terms of
dollars and cents and on our
independence
every year we spend over 50 billion
of our health care dollars on injuries
and fatalities related to falls
brain injuries sustained in the fall are
important because many of the elderly
are taking blood thinners and an injury
to the head
can lead to bleeding into the brain
which can be life-threatening
and sadly once a person is injured in a
fall
they may not be able to live
independently
and some people will require expensive
in-home care
and the use of assistive devices such as
lifts or wheelchairs or access ramps
which can cost thousands
and then there is the fear of being
placed in a nursing home and this can
lead to
secrecy and not telling the doctor or
family member about falling
so what if we asked ourselves what can i
do
to prevent falls first
get educated do what i did
learn more about the risks associated
with falling
if you fall tell someone
your doctor or a family member
oprah had it right she got up she went
right on with the show
and hopefully she would have told her
doctor about falling
and my sister she did tell me that she
had fallen
get an annual eye exam as we get older
our vision changes and wearing the
proper eyewear
is incredibly important do exercises and
activities
that increase strength and balance
like tai chi or yoga and if there are
mobility issues
any activity that can be done standing
up can be done sitting down
or lying down and make the home
environment
safer by removing clutter
trip hazards and improved lighting
so we all have the power to prevent
falls
once we know the risks and the actions
to take
if you fall tell someone
and do activities that improve strength
and balance
what am i doing to prevent falls
i’m using the hula hoop
and i want to leave you with these words
falling in love
is so much better than falling down
be well