Fat people Vulnerable falling But Rare Injury

News Health Articles - Fat people Vulnerable falling But Rare Injury. Patients with obesity or overweight are more likely to fall and risk of injury or disability than people who are thinner. Fortunately, being overweight is able to protect the body from injury.

The study, published in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society analyzed data from 10,755 people aged 65 years and over. Researchers found that elderly individuals with obesity as much as 12 to 50 percent more likely to have fallen for more than two years than their peers with normal weight.



The increase was due to higher levels of obesity. Elderly with a 50 percent higher risk are the elderly with body mass index (BMI) 40 and over, or have excess weight around 45 kg for males and 36 kg for women.

The study participants were surveyed every two years between 1998 and 2006. They report having a total of 9621 times the fall and resulted in more than 3,100 injuries serious enough to require medical attention. Among the elderly who have fallen, 23 percent of them are obese. While the elderly who do not fall during the study period less than 20 percent.

"Fall is often seen as a problem of fragile elderly are particularly vulnerable because of bone fractures. However, obesity has its own risks. People who are obese has difficulty maintaining balance. And when the elderly obese lose their balance, they may be less able to react quickly and hold down," said the researchers, Christine Himes, from Syracuse University in New York.

To risk of injury from falls, seniors are severely obese with a BMI of 40 and over have the possibility of one-third less injured than the elderly with normal weight.

But elderly people who have mild obesity had no such protective effect. In fact, elderly people who suffer from obesity in middle level has a greater risk of experiencing long-term disability for the elderly after a fall compared with normal weight.

Elderly with a BMI 30 to 34.9 had 17 percent more likely than normal-weight elderly to experience disability after a fall. And older adults with a BMI between 35 to 39.9 had 39 percent greater likelihood have developed defects.

The study, reported by Reuters, Thursday (29/12/2011) This confirms that obese people are more susceptible than thin people falling. And when it falls, the most obese people may be protected from injury due to extra padding and denser bones. But when fat people are injured, less likely to recover.