标题:Whydoesouraclasstaghrefwiki10885Te4MGim7。htmlbalanceagetworseaswegrowolder? 作者:THECONVERSATION 原文链接:http:www。psypost。org201510whydoesourbalancegetworseaswegrowolder38428 翻译请保留原文链接哦 欲翻译的小伙伴,可评论领稿,并把已完成的译文发在自己的心理圈or个人主页的日志内。请领稿的小伙伴,尽量在一个星期内完成翻译,谢谢!! Allofushavetakenatumbleatsomepointinourlives。Butaswegrowolder,therisksassociatedwithfallingoverbecomegreater:welosephysicalstrengthandbonedensity,oursenseofbalancedeterioratesandwetakelongertorecoverfromafall。Alarmingly,thisprocessbeginsaroundtheageof25。Thereasonsforthisarevariedandcomplex,butbyunderstandingthembetter,wecanfindwaystomitigatetheeffectsofoldage。 Thefirstthingtoknowisthatthehumanbodyisinherentlyuns,withasmallbaserelativetoitsheight。Maintaininganuprightpositionandmovingfromplacetoplacewhilestayingbalancedisacontinualchallengeforourbodies。Oursuccessdependsonthewellbeingandintegrationofmanydifferentsystemswithinourbodies。 Therearethreemainsystemsthatprovideuswiththesensoryinformationaboutourbodiesandthesurroundingenvironmentthatweneedtomaintainbalance。Thesearethevisual(eyes),vestibular(innerearandsemicircularcanals)andsomotosensory(sensationfeedbackfromjointsinankles,knees,spineandneck)systems。Tomaintainbalance,ourbrainsmustrapidlyandcontinuouslyintegrateandthenprocessthesensoryinformationreceivedfromthesesystems,andthisintegrationisoftenworseinolderpeoplewhoarepronetofalls。 Thisunconsciousprocesspromptsfinelytuned,coordinatedresponsesfromourmotorandmusclesystems。Theseresponsesareproducedasaresultofplannedandunplannedchallengestoourstabilitysuchasbendingovertotieyourshoelace,orrecoveringfromaplayfulpushfromafriendwhichmakeupoureverydaymovementpatterns。 Takingatumble Fallsoccurwhenthedemandsonposturalcontrolexceedourbodies’capabilities。Thismighthappenwhenyourbody’spatternofmovementisinterruptedorsuddenlychangedbyanunexpectedhazardforinstance,whenyoutripover。Or,itcouldhappenwhenyourbodyisdisplacedbeyonditssupportbaseandyourattempttocorrectthedisplacementisdelayed,inadequateorinaccurateforexample,whenyou’repushedforcefully。 Fallsaremorelikelytooccurasyougetolder。Withageandinactivity,theunconsciousprocessesyourbraingoesthroughtohelpyoubalancemaynotintegrateaswellorasquicklyastheyusedtoinotherwords,yourcognitiveabilitiesdecline。Asaresult,maintainingbalanceandpreventingharmfulfallsmayrequireevergreatermentalfocusandprovemorefatiguing。Poorercognitioncanalsolimityourabilitytomultitask:thestopswalkingwhentalkingphenomena,whichyoumayhaveobservedamongyourelderlyrelatives,reflectsthisdifficulty。 Anotherresultofageingisthatthequalityoftheinformationprovidedbyyourvisual,vestibularandsomotosensorysystemsdeclines。Youreyesightgetsworse,withincreasedsusceptibilitytoglareandpoordepthperception。Thiscanleadyoutomisinterpretthelayoftheland,ormisjudgedistance,whichcancauseafall。 Thenormalsensoryfeedbackfromyourjointstothebrainisreducedbyswollenfeetandanklesandpoorflexibility。Diseasesinweightbearingjoints,suchasarthritis,maycauseerrorsinfootplacement,whiledistortedorpainfulfeetandpoorlyfittedshoescanpassmisleadinginformationtothebrainaboutthenatureofyourcontactwiththegroundwhenyou’rewalking。 Vestibularabnormalitiessuchasvertigoorinnerearinfectionsarecausesofdizziness,whichcanalsoincreasetheriskofafalls。Certainmedicationswhicharecommonlyprescribedamongtheolderpopulationsuchasaspirin,quinine,andsomeantibioticsanddiureticscanleadtoproblems investibularfunction。 Alltheseagerelatedchangesincreasethelikelihoodofafall,asyou’refacedwithplannedorunplannedchallengestoyourbalanceduringdaytodaylife。Butwithalloftheseextraconcerns,there’sariskthatolderpeoplewilltodescendintoaviciousspiralofinactivity:manyoftheseageingchangestothebodyareacceleratedbysedentarybehaviour,whichinturnleadstoagreaterreductioninstrengthandbalance,lossofboneandanincreasedriskoffalls。 Nevertoolate Thegoodnewsis,thatitispossibletobreakthisviciouscircleandslowtheprocessofdeterioration,improvestrengthandbalanceandreducetheriskoffuturefallsbybeingactive。 Weshouldallaimtobeactiveeverydayandbuildupto150minutesofmoderateexerciseaweek,whichshouldmakeyoufeelslightlyoutofbreathandabitwarmer。Thistimecanbeaccumulatedintenminutebursts。Atleasttwooftheseshortburstsshouldbuildstrengthandbalance:examplesincludeliftingweights,yoga,TaiChi,Otagoorposturalstabilityclasses,bowlsanddancing。Andit’simportanttocheckthattheinstructoristrainedtoteacholderadultsifthepersonisnewtoexercise。 Thatbeingsaid,ofthetrialsofexerciseprogrammesaimedatreducingfallsasmanyhavefailedashavesucceeded。Thegreatestrelativeeffectsofexerciseonfallrateswereseeninprogrammesthatincludedinexcessof50hours(eitheranhouraweekforayearortwiceaweekfora6monthperiod),togetherwithchallengingbalanceexercisesinwhichpeopleaimedtostandwiththeirfeetclosertogetherorononeleg,minimiseuseoftheirhandstoassistwithbalancing,andpracticecontrolledmovementsofincreasingswayovertime。 It’snevertoolatetostart。Byconcentratingonformsofexercisethatchallengestrengthandbalance,wecanhelpmaintainourbodies’complexbalancingsystems,andconfinethetimewebecomedependentonotherstoashortperiodattheendofourlives。