Saturday, March 2, 2013

How to Prevent Yourself from a Fall, Trip, or Slip - Susiri Weerasekara




 Forwarded with my additions below it.
jksw


Increased Risk of Fall Accident Begins at Age 40 
by: Junji Takano

  People begin to have balance problems starting at the age of 40 years. The older you get, the weaker your physical body and sensory abilities will be, which are all factors in having poor balance.


In Japan, more than 7,000 people a year die from falling accidents

## Test Your Balance by Standing on One Leg You can determine how good your balance is by measuring the length of time that you can stand on one leg.

How to Stand on One Leg

The following table shows the average balance time by age group in a study conducted at a Japanese health institute. Average time with eyes open 20-39 years old: 110 seconds
40-49: 64 seconds50-59: 36 seconds
60-69: 25 seconds
 Average time with eyes closed 20-39 years old: 12 seconds
40-49: 7 seconds50-59: 5 seconds
60-69: less than 3 seconds

women tend to lose their balance more than men but only by a small margin (1-2%).

From this study,
it is also evident that there's a sudden significant decrease in the ability to maintain balance among middle-aged people (40 years and above).

## The Soles of Your Feet Have Sensors The skins all throughout your body have significant amount of tiny pressure sensors or mechanoreceptors. Some areas have few pressure sensors, while other areas have thousands, like on the soles of your feet.

Pressure Sensors or Mechanoreceptors on the soles of the feet

The pressure sensors on the foot soles provide information to your brain to help balance your body.
 As you get older, the sensors will get weaker and your foot sole lose sensitivity.

But there are also other factors that can lead to weaker pressure sensors. ## Poor Blood Circulation Can Disrupt the Pressure Sensors In our study, people are almost twice as likely to be in a fall accident caused by poor blood circulation. This can be simulated by soaking your feet into ice cold water for about 3 minutes. Because of the cold temperature, the pressure sensors on the foot sole begin to lose sensitivity.

## Pay Attention to Your Forward-Moving Foot If your forward-moving foot hit something, your body will be off-balance causing you to fall or trip. Well, it's a matter of common sense to always have your eyes on path and watch where you are going. But that's not the only problem.

Here are the other two major reasons why you stumble while walking. 1. Your forward-moving foot is pointed down. If your foot is pointed down while making a step, then you are more prone to falling. To avoid this, your forefoot or toes should be flexed upwards as shown on the image below.

Flex Your Toes Upward while Walking

2. You walk like a pendulum. The height of your step can greatly increase your risk of falling. To prevent this, your forward-moving foot must be higher off the ground (at least 5 cm) while the knee is raised high as shown on the image below.

A bit highstepping is good.

Proper Height of Foot When Making a Step

## How to Prevent Yourself from a Fall, Trip, or Slip 1. Keep Your House Clean . Always make sure to put away or store properly all personal belongings and other unnecessary things even if it is only a newspaper, remote control, and laundries scattered on the floor or carpet.


2. Stretch Your Feet and Ankles Foot exercising is good.

Feet Exercise
Toe Exercise
in reality, feet stretching exercise can really help your feet maintain balance.

3. Keep Your House Warm and Ensure Adequate Lighting Cold muscles and pressure sensors work less well and are less responsive to signals. A decreased temperature will also cause your muscles to have less strength and less flexible, which can lead to accidents. Always try to keep your house warm or wear proper clothes and footwear, especially during winter. Since most falls occur indoors, make sure your house has adequate lighting.
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And now for senior Sri Lankans, counting ladies in their 50s.
Walk often, often on grass, barefoot is preferred. Toning up your balance and foot senses.
Wearing glasses decrease range of vision, especially down below near your feet, and stepping downstairs. Note down your ‘blind’
areas.
Watch out for wet floors, especially toilets and bathrooms. Older people need non slip floors- not tiles- and a few hand rails
around help. In humid climes, water dries up slowly.
Try to have both hands free walking stairs. One hand on railing.
Beware slipping, crumply carpets.
If in doubt, sit on bed as you pull your underwear, socks on. Sooner or later you will need to.
Beware cats and dogs and  animals like children who may bash into you.

Think of having taller chair seating, avoiding deep low suites.
Getting off a low car seat could be tricky.
When on unfamiliar ground or house floor, take care. Beware varying floor levels in the same house, or as you walk on roads.
At night in the dark, a quick first step off the bed  can cause a fall, the mosquito net may trip you too. Keep a small torch.
Walking on roads without pavements can be tricky. Potholes are common.
A sudden beach wave you could tackle when young at the beach may be a disaster.
Be aware, that your muscle/bone strength is far less than at say 30 years.
Be aware that as you age the muscles around bones thin down, reducing your muscle padding effect, making even mild
bone/floor contact prone to more factures, like falling to a side.

And lastly, don’t ever sleep walk or get chased by a leopard.

jksw



   

   


  

Sayings - email from Dawood


[1]

Regular naps prevent old age,
especially if you take them while driving.
[2]

Having one child makes you a parent;
having two makes you  a referee.

[3]

Marriage is a relationship in which one person is always right;
and the other is the husband!

[4]

I believe we should all pay our tax with a smile.
I tried - but they wanted cash.

[5]

Marriage is give and take. 
You'd better give it to her or she'll take it anyway.

[6]

My wife and I always compromise.
I admit I'm wrong and she agrees with me.

[7]

It doesn't matter how often a married man changes his job,
he still ends up with the same boss.

[8]

Saving is the best thing.
Especially when your parents have done it for you.

[9]

Wise men talk because they have something to say;
fools talk because they feel they have to say something.

[10]

They call our language the mother tongue because the 
father seldom 
gets to speak!

[11]

Man : Is there any way for long life ?
Dr. : Get married.
Man : Will it help 
Dr : No , but then the thought of long life will never occur.

[12]

Why do couples hold hands during their wedding ?
It's a formality just like two boxers shaking hands  
before the fight begins !

[13]

Wife: Darling today is our anniversary, what should we do ?
 Husband: Let us stand in silence for 2 minutes.

[14]

It's funny when people discuss: Love Marriage vs Arranged marriage.
It's like asking someone, if suicide is better or being murdered.

[15]

There is only one perfect child in the world and every mother has it.

Friday, March 1, 2013

WHAT REALLY MATTERS IN LIFE - email from Gallege De Silva.


  Take sometime to ponder on what is stated below, especially with all the hype about the end of the world.  Let's start now to get ready, so that when the time comes, we will have no fear in facing our GOD.
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Reminds me of what we memorized in the JSC at school:-

Lives of great men all remind us,
We can make our lives sublime
And departing leave behind us,
FOOT-PRINTS IN THE SANDS OF TIME. 



  

Tuesday, February 26, 2013

Golf on Christmas Day - email sent by Susiri Weerasekara


Four old timers playing their weekly game of golf, one remarked
How nice it would be to wake up on Christmas morning, roll out of bed
And without an argument go directly to the golf course, meet his
Buddies and play a round.

His buddies all chimed in said, "Let's do it! We'll make it a
Priority; figure out a way to meet here early, Christmas morning."

On that special morning there they are on the
Golf course. The first guy says, "Boy this game cost me a fortune! I
Bought my wife a diamond ring that she can't take her eyes off it."

Second guy "I spent a ton too. My wife is at home planning
The cruise I gave her. She was up to her eyeballs in brochures."

The third "Well my wife is at home admiring her new car,
Reading the manual."

The last guy in the group who is staring at them
Like they have lost their minds.
"I can't believe you all went to such expense for this one golf game. I
Slapped my wife on the butt and said, ‘Wow, Merry Christmas babe !
It's a great morning -- intercourse or golf course --' "

She said, “Don’t forget your sweater.”


Green Memorial, Manipay, Sri Lanka.

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Nihal. Gooneratne <nihalgee@gmail.com>
Date: Mon, Feb 25, 2013 at 6:29 AM
Subject: FW: Interesting stuff to read
To: philipv203@gmail.com
Cc: senaratnedc@optusnet.com.au


Philip/Chandrasiri:
                                    Philip more information from Bala about the medical school.
Nihal

From: Bala Balakrishnan [mailto:bala2012@hotmail.com]
Sent: Sunday, February 24, 2013 1:59 AM
To: nihalgee@gmail.com
Subject: RE: Interesting stuff to read

Nihal ,thanks ,very intereting article ,
first establishment of medical school was stared by american missioneries even before a medical school was established in Colombo .
a book written by Mr Thiru Arumugamabout Green memorial hospital [which is still in existance and fuctioning ] 
The title of the book NineteenthCentuaryAmerican Medical Missionaries in Jaffna,Ceylon With special referance to Samuel Frisk Green.published in 2009
MV Publicatuions South asian Studies centre .Sydney.Thiru Arumugam is brother of our batch mate vimala Arumgan .lives in Sydney Enginner by Profession
incidently Dr. William  Paul[ was among the graduates of that medical college his son Samuel C Paul was the first ceylonese Doctor to obtain FRCS london.
Professor Milroy Pauls dad.   
 How are you keeping .finally i am hoping to retire by may or june this your
Best of wishes
Bala 

Kapuwaththe's mother's funeral.


Lakshman Karalliedde
7:50 PM (22 hours ago)
to meBuddy
 Dear Phillipo and Buddy, Kapu's mother died peacefully around 1030 today. The funeral would be on Wednesday morning. His telephone number is 081 2224983,
 Karals