Why Do Accidents Occur? by Dr. A. R. Scopelliti

Accidents actually occur for many reasons. Accidents occur simply out of shear accident. You slide on something slippery, you are knocked over by something, etc. When you fall because you lost your balance, this is more concerning as it alludes to the fact that there is more going on, i.e., a problem.

There are many medical conditions which contribute to fall risk. Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s, diabetes, cardiac problems to name a few. In the absence of disease, fall risk occurs as an affect of normal aging. This is insidious, and most do not perceive that their balance is poor until put to the test, at which point they fall.

Some who fall will be fortunate and get a second chance to treat their poor balance, others nay not be so fortunate and suffer grave injuries that may even be fatal.

As human’s age, the spine tends to degenerate as part of the normal again process. Because of this degenerative process, the proprioceptive systems that send information to the areas of your brain that regulate balance, tend to diminish over time, so that you have less proprioceptive information reaching the balance centers of the brain. When this happens, first off, you are at increased risk of fall. Now, amplify the situation by adding poor vision, or, being in a situation that requires good balance, like at night when it is dark, or being in a dark room. Consequential balance loss will be amplified. As these two systems fail, which is markedly common in the elderly, increased reliance on the vestibular labyrinthine system becomes necessitated. If there is any problem with this system whatsoever, a fall is imminent.

We can easily check these three postural systems in our office, in fact, we do it free as a community service. Falls are endemic and a leading cause of accidental injury and accidental death. For this reason, we urge all individuals, especially those over 60 years of age, to be tested.

If you think your balance is fine because you have not yet fallen, you are simply lucky. The simple fact is that you only know your balance is good if it has been tested and you pass your test. If you already know that you have poor balance, or, you have a history of falling, do yourself a huge favor and take advantage of our offer to test you for free. It will change the course of your life.