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A recent long term study strongly indicates that middle-aged and elderly people who cannot balance on one leg for 10 seconds are almost twice as likely to die within 10 years than those who can.
For this study an international group of experts from the UK, US, Australia, Finland and Brazil completed a 12-year study examining the relationship between balance and mortality. They worked with 1,702 people between ages of 51 and 75 following them between 2008 and 2020 to complete the study. Initially, participants were simply asked to stand on one leg for 10 seconds without any additional support.
In order to standardize the test, participants were later asked to place the front of their free foot on the back of the opposite lower leg while keeping their arms by their sides and their gaze fixed straight ahead. Up to three attempts on either foot were allowed. The results are striking and concerning:
• One in five (21%) failed the test.
• Over the next decade, 123 died of various causes.
• After accounting for age, sex, and underlying conditions, an inability to stand unsupported on one leg for 10 seconds was associated with an 84% heightened risk of death from any cause.
• An inability to stand on one leg for 10 seconds in middle to later life was linked to a near doubling in the risk of death from any cause within the next 10 years.
• The findings are so alarming that the researchers, led by Dr Claudio Gil Araujo of the Clinimex exercise medicine clinic in Rio de Janeiro, suggest a balance test should be included in routine health checks for older people.
The results were published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine. Prior research on balance and health also indicates that lack of balance ability (standing on one leg) is linked to a greater risk of stroke. People with poor balance have also been found to perform worse in tests of mental decline, suggesting a link with dementia.
If this kind of information frightens you let the fear soften by the reality that balance can be improved by anyone at any age. A great beginning would be to consult with a yoga instructor and get yourself into yoga classes regularly – as in three or four times a week. One yoga session done sporadically will not create the improvement necessary.
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