Dementia: Risk increases after injury from a fall | Life & Knowledge
US doctors are sounding the alarm: Older adults injured in a fall are more than 20 percent more likely to develop dementia within a year of their accident.
This is what a new study found. The researchers compared fall injuries to other types of physical injuries.
The research team at Brigham and Women's Hospital (Boston, USA) has in a large-scale Investigation found that falls may indicate a deterioration in brain health that can lead to Alzheimer's and other dementias.
“It is possible that falls serve as a sentinel event that poses a future risk for dementia,” explains physician and study leader Alexander Ordoobadi. Although the results do not prove that falls directly contribute to dementia, they do not explicitly rule this out either.
Almost a third of people over 65 are injured every year by falling.
And there are even more shocking figures: it is estimated that around ten million people worldwide become ill every year dementia. This figure is part of an overall estimate that approximately 50 million people worldwide are living with dementia.
“One of the biggest challenges is the lack of personal responsibility for follow-up examinations for cognitive impairment,” says Ordoobadi. “Emergency rooms or trauma centers often don’t have the time for these examinations.”
The study authors call for a comprehensive early detection program for memory performance after falls to be introduced.