We’ve previously looked at the effects of exercise on reducing the risk of falls in the elderly (HYPERLINK), following on from that I’d like to look at a couple of studies that examine the role of weight/resistance training on improving the physical function of “older adults” and then a study which has shown that having good physical function will reduce the risk of an “older adult” being hospitalised (HYPERLINK).
First up, the article on the benefits of resistance training. This was a Cochrane Review (http://www.cochrane.org/reviews/en/ab002759.html), and for those who don’t know …

Now, this wasn’t the best designed study ever, for starters they only had 20 subjects, so it is hard for us to read too much into it. But the results do show a trend that is worth acknowledging. And the idea that we can minimise the risk of knee injury when running is worth investigating.
In this study they did a variety of tests, such as weights, height, strength, flexibility, and joint angle measurements, as well as questionnaires on running habits on runners to see which, if any, of these was …

I’m going to be commenting on a couple of articles related to a bit of a fight going on in the UK between the British Chiropractic Association (BCA) and, well, a lot of people who are keen to have a bit of a go at them. The BCA recently sued a journalist for libel after he described chiropractic treatment as “bogus” ( http://bit.ly/h1Ux3). Ever since there’s been a bit of to and fro between the BCA and various journalists and scientists.
Recently New Scientist ( http://bit.ly/unO7B) published an article which cited …

Falling is a very common cause of severe injury and even death in older people. A 2010 study estimated that 30% of adults older than 65 will experience a fall each year and even minor falls can have serious consequences; “elderly patients are 3 times as likely to die following a ground-level fall”. This can be something as simple as slipping on a wet tile floor. From 1993-2005 the rate of fatal falls increased by 55% so the risk of falling is certainly something that should be addressed.
A 2008 study reviewed …

Now, if you know me, you would know that I would have jumped at the chance to review an article like this, particularly when the findings were so positive. I must sound like a broken record at work giving out advice to do some warming up prior to exercising, and this kind of validation is so sweet.
A warm-up program was developed and taught to 1055 teenage soccer playing girls. The warm-up consisted of 8 minutes of slow jogging, stretching, and some strength and balance exercises, then 2 minutes of faster …

Or even just a little clumsy? Heck, we’ve all been a little “inelegant” when we’ve had one too many before, right? I wanted to summarise the information in an article I read recently (a systematic review of 44 previous trials with a total of 9603 people—that’s a lot!) where they looked at:
1. whether exercise programs were able to prevent falls in older people; and
2. what sort of exercise is best for helping prevent falls.
The overwhelming result from these studies was that exercise can help prevent falls.
Some studies found better results …