Falls are a reality of Parkinson’s disease and the majority of individuals who have Parkinson’s disease fall and most have repeated falls. Approximately 55% of people with Parkinson’s disease will suffer a minimum of one fall in a two year period. Connected with these falls, from the statistics at the US National Library of Medicine, 65.0% involving these individuals suffered injuries; 33.0% endured a fracture; 75% of personal injuries sustained in a fall required health care services; 40% of the bone fractures necessitated a surgical procedure. Generally there are numerous variables that trigger falls for those with Parkinson’s such as: progression of the disease, motor impairment, medication treatment with dopamine agonists, levodopa dosage, decrease in cognitive capabilities, and fear of falling, freezing of gait, reduced mobility and diminished physical activity. Fall prevention consequently most become a vital consideration in the management of Parkinson’s disease, especially in the colder months when slippery driveways and pavements call for extra precautions.

The main motor symptoms of Parkinson’s, such as rigidity/stiffness and slow movement or bradykinesia, coupled with associated changes in posture, all contribute to risk of falling. As an example rigidity/stiffness a symptom of Parkinson’s that contributes to the danger of falling with loss of flexibility in the neck and trunk increases postures stability and the likelihood of losing balance when standing up results in a fall. Bad posture, stooped shoulders, a tendency to lean forward when walking and freezing, all lead to the center of gravity shifting outside the base of support resulting in a fall. The center of gravity is found just beneath the navel with feet placement shoulder width apart as the base of support. If you were to drop a cord from the navel and it landed outside of the feet then you are generally unbalanced and a candidate for a fall. In other words you are out of balance. Individuals with Parkinson’s this is very typical and can lead to a loss of balance with day to day activities like walking, standing up, bending over, turning, and moving around obstacles. It is essential to establish balance and posture training as part of your exercise program. Becoming active, possessing a good attitude is extremely important to manage the disease for a quality of life.

An additional danger variable which must be considered is vision difficulties that are common with Parkinson’s disease such as double and blurry vision as well as changes in depth perception. This challenges a person’s mobility when walking in being able to notice where they are heading and maintain their center of gravity and balance.

As the number of individuals who have Parkinson’s disease increases along with the aging of the baby boomers the injuries from falls will increase as will the number of these individuals losing their independence. These falls could possibly mean very expensive long-term health services. That is the reason why it is so vitally important to be pro-active in fall prevention exercises. Don’t let a catastrophic event such as a hip fracture or broken leg leave you homebound and having to rely on someone to run errands and do the daily activities needed to be independent. In 2012, 24,000 over the age of 65 died from the result of falls, that number is almost doubled from 2002 from the Center for Disease Control and Prevention. There is no statistics on how many Parkinson’s had. Additionally more than 2.4 million people 65 and older went to the emergency room for fall related injuries in 2012. Falls is the leading cause of injury related death in this age group. Be active, work on fall prevention, don’t be a statistic.