This WSU Newsline Podcast is available at http://www.wichita.edu/newslinepodcast. See the transcript below:

You’re listening to the podcast edition of the Wichita State University audio newsline. Learn more about WSU — the home of Thinkers, Doers, Movers and Shockers — on the Web at wichita.edu.

Aging brings many challenges. One of those is keeping our balance. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, falls among those 65 and older are responsible for more than 18,000 deaths and nearly 450,000 hospitalizations annually in the United States.

Rogers: “We’re currently undergoing a dramatic increase in the number of people over the age of 65 in the United States, primarily due to the baby boom generation. Currently there’s approximately 13 percent of our population that are over the age of 65, and this is going to increase to nearly 20 percent by the year 2025.

“Approximately one-third of individuals over the age of 65 fall each year, and many of those individuals fall more than once per year. Those are just the ones that are reported. Certainly there are many more older adults who do fall, and it goes unreported.”

Rogers says that, until recently, we’ve focused more on other health issues for older adults.

Rogers: “From an exercise standpoint we have long focused on the cardiovascular benefits of physical activity and, over the last couple of decades, more on the benefits of strength training, particularly for older adults. The problem is we have not focused on balance or developed programs appropriate to improve balance.”

Rogers says there are some challenges in addressing balance through exercise.

Rogers: “One of the difficulties in addressing balance through exercise is the multiple systems we have to cover and address, including vision, dizziness and muscular strength.”

Unlike many effects of aging, balance can be improved, and age-related declines can be delayed or minimized with proper training. And, Rogers says, one does not have to work out with a personal trainer to get the benefits of balance training.

Rogers: “One of the unique aspects of balance training is that we can do it anytime, anyplace. We don’t have to go to a gym. We don’t have to go outside. You can perform balance exercises while you’re brushing your teeth.”

According to Rogers, it’s a good idea to start balance training while you’re in your 40s and 50s.

Rogers: “We often take balance for granted and don’t become aware of any limitations until after we suffer a fall. The important thing is to start balance training earlier — say, for example, in your 40s or 50s — to help prevent a fall from occurring in the first place.”

Rogers suggests several exercises that can help you improve balance.

Rogers: “There’s a variety of different exercises that you can do to improve balance. Examples of those would be to stand on one foot. If that is too difficult, put one foot slightly in front of the other. Or, for example, brushing your teeth with your eyes closed is an effective way to improving your balance.”

Balance training is often seen as part of a larger trend called functional fitness exercises, which are geared toward helping one handle the physical challenges of day-to-day life. Around holiday time, for example, Rogers tries to prepare the elderly in his class for crowded shopping malls. He has them walk between narrow gaps, occasionally getting brushed by others. This, he says, “helps give them confidence” to face the holiday throngs. And one of the nice things about balance training is that the results can be evident fairly quickly.

Thanks for listening. Until next time, this is Joe Kleinsasser for Wichita State University.