Can Improved Balance Help You Live Longer?

Nicholas Anastasio, M.D., is a board certified physician specializing in physical medicine and rehabilitation at Orthopedics and Joint Replacement at Mercy. Dr. Anastasio recently responded to a request from CNN regarding "Why it is important for our health and longevity to have good balance." The following are his thoughts on the subject.

Having good balance is vital to your health and longevity. Impairments to balance can lead to falls. Falls can lead to injuries, such as hip fractures. Medical research has shown that if someone suffers a hip fracture from a ground level fall, their overall mortality rate over the next few years doubles. This is not to say that the hip fracture is the cause of their mortality, but instead that it is a marker of overall frailty. Balance is a combination of your muscle strength, sensory system, visual system, inner ear, and cerebellum (the back part of your brain).

Many of these systems can be maintained. Weight lifting and exercise can improve your balance and strength. A healthy diet can help prevent diseases, such as diabetes, that can affect the function of your sensory nerves. Having annual eye exams and appropriate visual correction can reduce fall risk. Vestibular therapy can also help improve vertigo and other inner ear issues that can affect balance.

It is also important to regularly review your medications with your primary care provider, as many medications can impair balance or lower blood pressure to levels that can increase fall risk. Finally, there are many improvements that can be made in the home to reduce falls. These include adequate lighting at night (e.g. if you need to get out of bed to use the restroom), removal of loose rugs, hand rails for support, or having a first floor set up to avoid stair use when unnecessary.

Dr. Nicholas Anastasio treats muscle, bone, joint and nerve conditions to maximize function and improve quality of life through non-surgical techniques, such as percutaneous tenotomy, platelet-rich plasma (PRP), nerve conduction studies and ultrasound-guided injections. He has training and experience in electrodiagnostic testing which measures electrical activity produced by muscles and nerves in your body to determine if you have an injury related to nerve or muscle function. Additionally, Dr. Anastasio is a Registered Musculoskeletal Sonographer.