Try Tai Chi for Balance and Fall Prevention

Villa Gardens Residents Practice Tai Chi

By Debbie L. Miller

Patricia Bethke Bing, 75, a retired community organizer in Knoxville, Tenn., has been practicing Tai chi for approximately 20 years. She practices three days a week, for 40 minutes, with a group of people around her age.

“I decided to do Tai chi for the health benefits, both mental and physical. I have no specific health issues, but I was looking to keep my good health and improve my leg strength,” said Bing. “Tai chi practice helps me to maintain my good balance, strength, and flexibility.”

Tai chi, also known as Tai chi chuan, is a Chinese martial art performed with slow, controlled postures and movements. Enthusiasts practice it for defense or health, or both.

Tai Chi Is Helpful for Balance

Recently, several studies have addressed the benefits of Tai chi for older adults. A 2014 analysis of research on Tai chi and balance, “Improvement of balance control and flexibility in the elderly Tai Chi Chuan (TCC) practitioners” in the Archives of Gerontology and Geriatrics concluded that “TCC practice was beneficial to improve the balance control ability and flexibility of older adults, which may be the reason for preventing falls.”

Peter M. Wayne, associate professor of medicine, Harvard Medical School, and director of research at the Osher Center for Integrative Medicine at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School, has been studying the health effects of Tai chi for 18 years and practicing it for 40.


“Across multiple studies, Tai chi appears to reduce risk of falling by 20 to 45 percent and is considered one of the best exercises available for ambulatory older adults with balance concerns,” Wayne explained.

Falling: A Serious Risk for Older Adults

Falls are the leading cause of accidental death among people age 65 and older. “In an effort to find ways to prevent falls among older adults, researchers have been investigating specific exercises, like Tai chi, that target both the physical and cognitive fundamentals of mobility,” said Brad Manor, director of Mobility and Brain Function Lab at the Institute for Aging Research at Hebrew Senior Life and assistant professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School.



Credit: Michael Miller

“We and others have shown that regular Tai chi practice aids the muscular system, movement coordination, balance, and even higher-level cognitive skills such as complex reaction time and problem solving,” Manor said, “which together enable us to move throughout our environment and complete our daily activities safely without falling.”

Many factors work together to prevent falling, including balance and stability. “Unfortunately, even falls that don’t result in injury or death often have a very real and significant negative impact on quality of life,” Manor said. The result? A cycle of fear and risk of future falls. “These falls often lead to fear of falling, reduced physical activity, depression and lack of social engagement — all of which, in turn, increase the risk of suffering another fall.”

Biomechanics (how we measure and control our movement, how it changes with age and how movement relates to balance) is an important factor in the balance/fall equation.

“Our balance control system is incredibly complex and, with aging, there is a decline in sensory and muscle function,” Manor said. Tai chi helps with the ability to maintain balance, especially when we’re doing more than one thing at the same time (dual tasking), a skill which also decreases as we age.

Research Confirms the Benefits of Tai Chi

The National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health (NCCIH), part of the government’s National Institutes of Health, summarized the benefits of Tai chi and concluded that “Practicing tai chi may help to improve balance and stability in older people.”

At Beacon Hill, a residential living community in Lombard, Ill., one of the residents leads an hour-long Tai chi class two days a week. “During the class, residents, who are between 62 and 93 years of age, sit or stand, depending on what feels most comfortable,” said Marc H. Raben, director of lifestyle at Beacon Hill.

Tai chi’s benefits go beyond the physical. “It is highly spiritual and also helps with focusing and calming the mind, as well as with balance,” Raben added. Several studies have shown tai chi to be helpful for those suffering from depression, hypertension, arthritis and fibromyalgia.

“Tai chi helps me mentally, as one must concentrate on the moves and the sequence in order to get the full benefit,” Bing explained. “I find the practice calming and centering, and it helps me emotionally. Tai chi is a pause from daily stresses and a safe comfortable place to be quiet.”


© Next Avenue - 2018. All rights reserved.

One Surprising Way Older Adults Can Get Healthier

Credit: Adobe Stock 

You know about the obvious things. Now try this. 

By Dr. Ann Hwang for Next Avenue

Whether or not we actually do the right things to improve our health, many of us probably assume we know what they are. Walk more. Quit smoking. Eat healthier.

It’s a familiar list, and a good one. As a primary care doctor, I spend plenty of time counseling people to do exactly these things. But here’s another, less familiar thing I think you should consider: get engaged in your community. 

The Benefits of Connection 

Civic engagement may not be on the top of everyone’s to-do list, but it probably should be. There is intriguing evidence to suggest that people who are engaged in their communities — through activities like participating in local organizations or volunteering — could also have better health. 

For example, older adults who volunteer are less likely to have high blood pressure or cardiovascular disease; they face a lower risk of cognitive impairment and they might even delay death.

Additionally, forming social connections might be particularly helpful in combatting social isolation and loneliness, a growing problem especially among older adults. People who are socially isolated may have increased risk for premature death and some have estimated that the negative impact of social isolation and loneliness could be a greater public health threat than obesity.

Living alone’ having a mobility or sensory impairment; going through a major life transition (like losing a spouse) or being a caregiver for someone with a severe impairment are common scenarios facing older adults. They are also risk factors for isolation.

Yet despite the potential benefits, the average American is becoming less and less engaged. Participation in clubs and civic organizations has fallen by more than half over the last 25 years and polls suggest growing distrust and pessimism about our political system.
Stories of Hopeful Change

In our work at the Center for Consumer Engagement in Health Innovation, we’ve seen the possibility and promise of change. We support advocates and leaders — particularly people who have significant health care needs or come from low-income communities — who are actively engaged in working to make the health system more responsive and person-centered.

People like Lezrette Hutchinson, a working mother of three who experienced homelessness after a fire and had significant health challenges after a diagnosis of sarcoidosis, a serious inflammatory condition. Hutchinson got treatment, but she didn’t stop there. She formed a recreational support group for people 50+ and joined the patient advisory board of her health system, saying “we wanted doctors to listen to us.”

Now, despite her ongoing illness, she feels the power of having a larger purpose. Hutchinson says: “I became an activist so I could let new people know it was going to be OK.”

Or Kathy Paul, a 69-year-old woman who advocates for better health care policies for older adults with the Massachusetts Senior Action Council. When her husband died, it was a turning point in her life.

She explains, “With more time on your hands, what do you do? Just sit in the house, stare at the walls and complain, or get out and do something about it? What our group likes to say is, ‘We don’t just take it, we take charge!’” 

Everybody Wins 

As the National Academy of Medicine recently summarized, actively engaging consumers as partners in health care is a win-win proposition, for all of us and for the health system. Health care leaders and policymakers interested in improving health would do well to focus on building more opportunities for engagement for consumers and the communities they serve. 

So if you’d like to improve your health, consider looking for ways to become active in your community. Get involved with a local community organization, drive someone to the polls, join a committee at your place of worship. Find a way to get engaged. Help yourself and help others at the same time.

© Next Avenue - 2018. All rights reserved.

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Why You Need the Shingles, Flu and Pneumonia Vaccines

The diseases can be a serious threat to older adults' health
By Leah Ingram for Next Avenue

Credit: Adobe Stock

Did you know that as you age, your immunity to the diseases you’ve been vaccinated against as a child starts to wane?

 

So says Dr. Dana Hawkinson, infectious disease specialist at The University of Kansas Health System in Kansas City, Kansas. That’s why it’s just as important to be vaccinated as an adult as it was as a child. Plus, some of the illnesses you could contract in the second half of life aren’t just an inconvenience — they could make you very sick or even kill you.

 

So here’s what you need to know about the most common vaccines for older adults — influenza (flu), pneumococcal pneumonia and shingles — plus boosters you need for tetanus and pertussis. Use this chart from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control for more information on when to get which vaccines.

 

Influenza

 

If you don’t know by now, influenza or the flu is nothing to sneeze at. It can be a killer, especially for those 65 and older. Flu season typically lasts from fall through spring.

 

“Influenza is a dangerous disease that can lead to pneumonia and fatal outcomes,” warns Hawkinson. Because the flu virus changes every year, you need to get a flu shot annually. It is recommended for everyone 6 months of age and older.

 

The shot becomes available in late August, and Hawkinson recommends getting immunized in September or October so your body has enough time to build up immunity after the shot. That can take a few weeks.

 

However, if you miss this window, don’t forego the shot altogether.

 

“[People should] still continue to get it until the end of flu season,” Hawkinson adds, “because it can have so many important effects.” While you can still contract the flu after getting the vaccine, the severity of the illness may be lessened. “Also, patients who have gotten the vaccine have fewer days being ill, and they have even fewer days missing work,” Hawkinson says.

 

Having an egg allergy does not mean you can’t get the shot: there is an egg-free, FDA-approved influenza vaccine.

 

Pneumococcal Pneumonia

 

This vaccine is known under the brand names Pneumovax and Prevnar, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control, and each prevents different strains of strep pneumonia.

 

The Prevnar version of the vaccine is given starting in childhood and then again as an adult 65 or older. The Pneumovax version is usually for adults only. Pneumococcal pneumonia is a bacterial infection that can have dire consequences, especially for those with certain health conditions, such as chronic heart or lung disease, or diabetes.

 

Shingles

 

The virus that causes chicken pox also causes shingles, a blistering rash that can produce a burning, electric shock or stabbing pain where it erupts. Also called herpes zoster, it can lie dormant for years in your system.

 

Some people who got the chicken pox as a kid will never develop shingles. Others might get it as an adult multiple times. No one knows why someone has a shingles outbreak, though some believe a stressful event can bring it on.

 

The shingles vaccine is recommended for individuals over 60. Unfortunately, says the CDC, the vaccine isn’t 100 percent effective. But considering that the effects and complications of shingles increase in severity as you age, it makes more sense to get the vaccine than not, Hawkinson says.

 

One of those complications is post-herpetic neuralgia: a burning pain that lasts months or years after the rash has healed. The risk of neuralgia is decreased if you begin taking antiviral drugs within 72 hours of developing the shingles rash, according to the Mayo Clinic.

 

A 2005 New England Journal of Medicine article underscores the severity of the disease: “The pain and discomfort associated with herpes zoster can be prolonged and disabling, diminishing the patient’s quality of life and ability to function to a degree comparable to that in diseases such as congestive heart failure, myocardial infarction [heart attack], diabetes mellitus type 2, and major depression.”

 

Tetanus and Pertussis Booster

 

You should be getting what’s called a Tdap booster every 10 years. That’s because Tdap includes protection against tetanus — the T in the shot — and pertussis or whooping cough — the P in the shot.

 

“As we age, we become more susceptible to pertussis, and we can spread it to the younger generation that hasn’t yet been immunized against whooping cough,” says Hawkinson.

 

Another thing to consider: While it is recommended you get this booster every 10 years, with regards to tetanus, if you are injured (by an animal bite or a cut from metal) more than five years after your last booster, you should get another one just to be safe.

© Twin Cities Public Television - 2017. All rights reserved.

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