According to BBC Science Focus "Researchers at the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota, in the US, have found that how long you can balance on one leg could indicate the speed at which your neuromuscular sensory system is ageing, especially for the elderly.
This system is a collection of nerves connecting our muscles to the brain and spinal cord, allowing our muscles to move when needed. A decline in this system goes hand-in-hand with ageing, and can lead to slower movements and responses."
Popular Science went further "“Balance is an important measure because, in addition to muscle strength, it requires input from vision, the vestibular system and the somatosensory systems,” Doctor Kenton Kaufman, a study co-author and director of the Motion Analysis Laboratory at Mayo Clinic, said in a statement. “Changes in balance are noteworthy. If you have poor balance, you’re at risk of falling, whether or not you’re moving. Falls are a severe health risk with serious consequences.”
The BBC Science Focus quotes Prof David Proctor, ageing and exercise expert at Pennsylvania State University in the US who was not involved in the study, as follows, "Attempts to prevent or slow the loss of muscle strength and balance in older age could mean the difference between remaining functionally independent and early admission to a nursing home!"
BBC Science Focus stated "Each person was asked to balance for 30 seconds four times: two attempts per leg, first with their eyes closed then again with them open. To see how age affected balance, the team kept track of how many seconds each person actually managed to balance during the 30-second window.
The team found that, for every additional 10 years of age, swaying increased by 6.3 per cent if their eyes were open and 10.5 per cent if their eyes were closed. The study also found that how long they could balance for declined by 2.2 seconds per decade on their non-dominant leg and 1.7 seconds on their dominant leg.
This suggests the length of time a person can balance for is a valid measure of ageing, and for the elderly, the risk of a fall.
Balancing for 30 seconds doesn’t take too much muscle strength, but requires adequate neuromuscular control. As age increases, however, both these decline, causing more swaying and shorter balancing time"
Popular Science went on to describe other elements of the study. They said "“If you can’t stand on your leg for five seconds, you’re at risk of falls,” Dr. Kaufman told The Washington Post. “If a person can stand on their leg for 30 seconds, they’re doing really well, especially if they’re older.”
Additionally, the researchers used a custom-made device to measure participants’ grip. To measure knee strength, participants were sitting down and instructed to extend their knee as forcefully as they could. The grip and knee strength tests used the participants’ dominant sides.
While grip and knee strength did decline significantly by decade, it did not drop as much as balance. Grip strength decreased at a quicker rate than knee strength, so the team believes this is a better strength metric for predicting aging.
In the gait test, participants walked back and forth on a 26 feet, level walkway at their own pace and speed. They found that the gait parameters didn’t change with age. According to Kauffnan, this was not a particularly surprising result since the participants were walking at their normal pace and not at their maximum pace.
There were also no age-related declines in the strength tests that were specific to sex. This indicates that their grip and knee strength declined at a similar rate, according to the study. They also did not identify any sex differences in the gait and balance tests, so male and female subjects were equally affected by age."
As the Mayo Clinic News Network puts it, "Good balance, muscle strength and an efficient gait contribute to people's independence and well-being as they age. If you don't use it, you lose it. If you use it, you maintain it."
Practicing qigong can maintain and perhaps even help increase balance control and muscle strength.
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