Physical conditioning programs to prevent falls in older people.

Abstract

The lack of muscular toning, less MMII mobility, greater joint stiffness and the loss of postural control cause weakness and falls in the elderly which can have serious consequences to maintain autonomy and self-reliance (fractures, anxiety of falling, ect). With age, the loss of strength in the legs, sensorial degradation and postural habits cause dynamic balance and quiescent to become affected. They produce changes in the visual system (loss of visual sharpness, depth perception, contrast sensitivity, and loss of field of vision) that negatively affect the ability of the elderly to accurately sense or to anticipate normal ground conditions, and the presence of danger around them. Aging also affects the somatosensory system (they give us information about spatial location and body movement in regards to ground bearings), provoking a reduction in the capacity to perceive affirmatively the contact between the legs and the ground. In regards to the vestibular system, ubicated/located in the inner ear and whose mission is to perceive movements of the head and to inform the brain, a gradual reduction begins of the sensorial cilia that act as biological sensors of movement of the head and that help us to align the body against the force of gravity. Specific physical training is crucial/essential for its prevention: strength training, balance, joint mobility, coordination, reaction speed, agility, aerobatic capacity, perception of space and time, ect.