Good articles on preserving a fundamental sense: balance

The NY Times health section ran a two part series this month on something we tend to take for granted – until we start losing it – our sense of balance.

I was very interested, since I feel my own sense of balance is not what it was, even only a few years ago.

Here’s the first article in the series (hit the links for the full features – registering for online access to the NY Times is free and easy):

Preserving a Fundamental Sense: Balance – New York Times

Though his father hurt little more than his pride, Mr. McCredie became intrigued by what might have caused this experienced hiker, an athletic and graceful man, to lose his balance suddenly. His resulting science-and-history-based exploration led to a book, “Balance: In Search of the Lost Sense,” published last June by Little, Brown.

Noting that each year one in three Americans 65 and older falls, and that falls and their sometimes disastrous medical consequences are becoming more common as the population ages, Mr. McCredie wonders why balance is not talked about in fitness circles as often as strength training, aerobics and stretching. He learned that the sense of balance begins to degrade in one’s 20s and that it is downhill — literally and figuratively — from there unless steps are taken to preserve or restore this delicate and critically important ability to maintain equilibrium.

Here is the second feature in the series:

A Stable Life, Despite Persistent Dizziness – New York Times

But when dizziness, vertigo or loss of balance is neither self-imposed nor short lived, it is anything but fun. It can throw one’s whole life out of kilter, literally and figuratively.

This is what befell Cheryl Schiltz in 1997, when long treatment with the antibiotic gentamicin permanently damaged the vestibular apparatus in her inner ear. For three years, said Ms. Schiltz, of Madison, Wis., her world seemed to be made of Jell-O. Lacking a sense of balance, she wobbled with every step, and everything she looked at jiggled and tilted.

Unable to work, Ms. Schiltz became increasingly isolated and struggled to perform the simplest household tasks.

Lisa Haven, executive director of the Vestibular Disorders Association, reports that “the risk of falling is two to three times greater in people with chronic imbalance or dizziness.” Nearly 9 percent of Americans 65 and older have balance problems, the prevalence of which is likely to increase as the 78 million baby boomers age.