ABSTRACT
Falls are a common occurrence among elderly people that often result in serious injury and loss of independent function. The increased risk of falling in older age is associated with age-related changes in postural control, blood pressure regulation, and cerebral perfusion, and disease-related conditions, including medications that accumulate with aging and impair an older person’s adaptive capacity. Dehydration is another physiologic change that predisposes older people to falls and syncope. Older people are particularly vulnerable to dehydration due to impairment in renal salt and water conservation. Resting cerebral blood flow declines with aging, placing elderly people closer to the threshold for cerebral ischemia if perfusion pressure suddenly falls. Since hypoglycemia is a common condition that can present as a fall in the elderly diabetic, it should be ruled out by evaluation of a fingerstick blood glucose whenever possible at the time of the fall.
