Older Adults’ Posture May Predict Future Disability
The shape of an older person’s spine may predict their future need for home assistance or admission to a nursing home, according to a 2013 Japanese study appearing in the Journals of Gerontology
The study included more than 800 people aged 65 and older in Japan, who underwent four types of spinal measurement with only one of the measurements associated with becoming dependent on help for activities of daily living.
These activities include basic self-care tasks such as bathing, feeding, using the toilet, dressing and getting in or out of a bed or chair.
The measurement that predicted the need of assistance is called the “trunk angle of inclination.” This is the angle between the true vertical and straight line from the first thoracic vertebra (near the head) to the first sacral vertebra (in the lower spine). This is one of the key measurements we look at in our office on both x-ray and photo analysis.
Over four and a half years of follow-up, about 16 percent of the participants became dependent on help for basic daily activities. Those with the greatest angle of spinal inclination were about three and a half times more likely to become dependent on help for basic daily activities than those with the least spinal inclination.
This is yet another study emphasising the importance of posture on our health. If you are being adjusted in our office, you no don’t doubt can feel and see significant postural improvements without the need for any exercises or long term rehabilitation. ABC™ care is able to make these changes predictably and consistently and on the majority of people showing notable improvement in the first few treatments.
http://biomedgerontology.oxfordjournals.org/content/68/7/869.abstract?sid=65f7af3d-d62b-4b22-b989-a00932475a3c
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