Since january 1st of this year, people over 65 years old had a fall in Europe, sometimes with serious consequences.
Since january 1st of this year, people over 65 years old had a fall in Europe, sometimes with serious consequences.
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Falls can be associated with a syncope, i.e. low blood flow which is hard to tolerate for the brain.
All cardiac ailments which can cause low blood flow to the brain can therefore lead to falls: supraventricular rhythm disorders, conduction disorders, myocardial infarction, pulmonary embolism, aortic stenosis, etc. In 40% of cases, the cause of the syncope cannot be found but, according to a study by Rebenstein, it is most often benign.
Among vascular causes, orthostatic hypotension, which is involved in 10 to 15% of falls, is the most frequent by far. It is usually multifactorial (hypovolaemia, venous insufficiency in the lower limbs, autonomic nervous system dysfunction, being no longer used to physical effort, postprandial hypotension, etc.), but in most cases, one of the drugs used by the person can be held responsible.
For more information:
- a drop in blood pressure is associated with an increase in falls. (Aronov)
- there are less falls among hypertensives. (Herndon)
