5 ms·
Noted physicist slain by oldest foe, gravity: "Mia Dyson says her father, at the age of 96 still regularly went to his office at Princeton University. On Wedne
by gwern 7y ago
Noted physicist slain by oldest foe, gravity:
"Mia Dyson says her father, at the age of 96 still regularly went to his office at Princeton University. On Wednesday, on such a visit, she says he suffered a fall and died of his injuries Friday morning."
TBIs and elder falling are a terrifying source of morbidity and mortality. So many old people start their terminal decline when they fall, for no particularly good reason. (Even when it doesn't immediately kill them, it can contribute to a downward spiral of ill health, less activity, and iatrogenics.) Who knows how much longer Dyson could have lived if his foot hadn't slipped?
- dmix 7y agoWhat an interesting perspective to consider and a statement on human fragility, especially in the context of such a great man.
- gwern 7y agoUnfortunately, no matter how great you are, you are still a few pounds of grayish peanut butter in a calcium jar.
- tartoran 7y agoOr to look at it from a different angle, their fall is caused by their old age decline which in turn triggers their terminal decline. I've seen it throughout my family, once confined to bed at old age one's decline accelerates quickly. It's perhaps that the lack of movement that has some spiraling effect on their health. More and more people should not stop doing sports when they get older, they should do sports less vigorously as they age but movement regime should stay.
- tzs 7y agoI wonder how much of this depends on how big a change there is in movement? Would a lifelong couch potato for whom their post fall movement is only a few percent less than what it was before the fall be less affected than someone who had been very active before their fall and had to cut their movement by 95%?
- tartoran 7y agoYes, good point. On the other hand I wonder if there is any person who aged well who had been a couch potato their whole life. I've seen very old people who were no longer very active but had been very active throughout their life. They still had some light and slow walks on a daily basis !! Movement helps with digestion is something I learned from firsthand experience. Due to a broken leg I was confined to a bed for nearly 2 months and remember bowel movements were extremely affected. Movement helps with arthritis, helps the brain, helps the bones. Also, the lymph system requires breathing and movement from the body's muscles to help move fluids and remove waste from the body.
- JackFr 7y agoMy mother who is 83 works out with a trainer who focuses on the elderly 3 times a week. All they do is stretching and balance exercises. To paraphrase her, at this age not falling is far more important then 45 minutes on the exercise bike.
- tartoran 7y agoYes, mobility and balance are sometimes overlooked with the regular bike exercises. Simply walking provides both if done properly (on a treadmill is not exactly the same thing for balance but better than none). I sometimes see some elders hiking and wish to be just like that at their age.
- lr4444lr 7y agoFrom what I've seen in the elderly, yes. It's just just the inactivity, but also the positioning. I suspect your lungs don't drain the same way, more of your body is subject to contact pressure for longer periods, and how blood flow works against gravity changes.
- duderific 7y agoSports would be great, but simply getting out for a walk every day makes a huge difference.
- gowld 7y agoEveryone dies of something. At the high end of geriatrics, with immune system decaying and bones hollowing out, nearly everything is a fatal risk.
- blacksmith_tb 7y agoI am not sure how long it'd take to become socially acceptable, but I would bet we could make robotic tails for the elderly to help with balancing... accelerometer, motors and a few counterweights, controller and battery.
- jey 7y agoA lot of people have psychological hurdles to even using a cane. Something like "I raised N children, I powered through my career, I have been a strong independent human being as far as I can remember, why should I use a cane?"
- SargeZT 7y agoI work with seniors, and even walkers/canes aren't surefire answers. In my facility, with roughly 500 seniors, we still have at least 2 major falls a month with people using walkers. We had a hip fracture last week with someone using a walker because they decided to take a sharp turn and just tipped over. They certainly help, but I've seen falls happen that wouldn't have happened were a walker not in the equation at all.
- JackFr 7y ago> why should I use a cane? To beat young whippersnappers!
- blacksmith_tb 7y agoFor sure, something like a wearable airbag (if you couldn't tell someone was wearing it) would be an easier sell. In either case people would have to actually remember to put them on and keep them on. Of course, it's sad to think that not wanting to accept you're aging would prevent us from taking steps to live longer, but we humans are a stubborn bunch.
- slavik81 7y agoYou occasionally see Richard Guy walking around our mathematics department with hiking poles. The man hiked a mountain in his 90s, but he's 103 now and it seems those days are past. It reminds me to watch where I'm going, lest I end a living legend.
- agumonkey 7y agohead trauma ? oh.. Traumatic Brain Injury. good point, let's make elders angle protection trendy and desireable
- jetrink 7y agoYou might be interested in the Gravity Research Foundation[1]. It was founded in 1948 by Roger Babson, who also founded Babson College. Babson described gravity as "Our Enemy Number One" and blamed it for the drowning death of his sister. He hoped the foundation would lead to the discovery of an anti-gravity material. 1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gravity_Research_Foundation https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gravity_Research_Foundation
- gwern 7y agoYes, I was alluding to that. The proposed methods are crazy, but there is a valid point in there, particularly for TBIs and falls.
- Nasrudith 7y agoA bad fall can kill anyone. Non-elders usually are more durable and have better reaction time though. I suspect reaction and bracing may matter more than human scale durability given sucker punches are especially dangerous because the body doesn't react or attempt to shield any vitals. Clearly healthy young men aren't durable enough to never die that way. In the case of elders the decline in reflexes may matter more - although they certainly do take injuries worse.