A simple action can measure the risk of future death! Come and try it

In the "National Physical Fitness Measurement Standards (Revised in 2023)" issued by the National Physical Fitness Monitoring Center, there is a test:

Under the premise of ensuring safety, stand on one leg with eyes closed, for adults aged 20 to 79. During the test, you need to close your eyes, lift one foot at will, and step the other on a hard, flat ground, then start the timer to see how many seconds you can hold on.

Image source: Fu Sijia

For middle-aged and elderly people over 50 years old, if they are unable to stand on one leg with eyes closed for 10 seconds, their risk of death in the next 4 to 9 years will increase significantly, 84% higher than those who can stand on one leg with eyes closed for 10 seconds.

If you are under 50 and can't hold for 10 seconds, then you may really need to pay attention to this problem! For details, you can refer to the data in the "National Physical Fitness Measurement Standards (Revised in 2023)".

Data source: National Physical Fitness Measurement Standards (revised in 2023)

The worse the balance

The higher the risk of future death

A study published in the British Medical Journal in September 2022 showed that the ability to stand steadily on one leg for 10 seconds predicted the survival of middle-aged and elderly people, confirming the correlation between balance ability and mortality risk. People with poor balance may have a higher risk of death.

The ability to stand steadily on one leg for 10 seconds predicts the survival of middle-aged and elderly people. Image source: Reference 1

The research team first organized 1,702 middle-aged and elderly subjects aged 51 to 75 to participate in the one-legged standing test. The test results showed that among the subjects aged 51 to 55, the proportion of those who failed the test was 4.7%; while among the subjects aged 71 to 75, the proportion of those who failed the test was as high as 53.6%!

Subsequently, the research team followed up the subjects for a period of 4.16 to 9.41 years. A total of 123 participants died among the 1,702 subjects. After considering variables such as age, gender, BMI, and clinical comorbidities (coronary heart disease, hypertension, diabetes, obesity, and dyslipidemia), the researchers found that the mortality rate of subjects who failed the test was 84% ​​higher than that of subjects who passed the test.

Moreover, the subjects who failed the test had poorer health during the follow-up period, with a higher proportion suffering from diabetes, cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases, and obesity. These three diseases also increase the risk of death in the future.

In March 2021, a study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA): The relationship between balance ability and all-cause and cause-specific mortality among American adults also found that people with poor balance ability will have an increased risk of all-cause mortality and long-term mortality from cancer and cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases.

The relationship between balance ability and all-cause and cause-specific mortality in American adults Image source: Reference 2

The study required the subjects to stand on the ground, put their feet together and stand straight, close their eyes, and maintain this position for 30 seconds. The study found that among American adult subjects aged 40 to 49, 18.2% had balance dysfunction, while this proportion reached 33.5% among subjects aged 50 to 64, and as high as 61.9% among subjects over 65 years old. After taking into account variables such as sociodemographic characteristics, lifestyle factors, and chronic diseases, people with balance dysfunction still had a 44% increased risk of all-cause mortality, a 65% increased risk of cardiovascular and cerebrovascular mortality, and a 37% increased risk of cancer mortality.

Balance

How does it affect the risk of death?

Seeing this, we can't help but ask, why do people with poor balance have a higher risk of death?

Balance is the body's ability to coordinate stimuli from the vestibular organs, muscles, tendons, receptors in the joints, vision, etc. It is an ability for the body to maintain stability. It is very important for the body's coordination and reaction ability. The body needs the support of balance to complete the actions of standing, walking, running, squatting, sitting, lying down, and getting up.

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The key organ that determines the body's ability to balance is the vestibular organ in the inner ear. The brain's nerve center obtains various information about the body's movement from the vestibular organ. Whenever the body makes a movement to break the balance, the nerve center will evaluate this stimulus and direct the bones, joints, muscles, etc. to respond in time to correct the movements that may disrupt the body's balance, thereby maintaining the body's balance.

Therefore, balance ability reflects the function and sensitivity of various sensory organs of the body, the speed and accuracy of the brain's central nervous system in processing information, the body's muscle strength and coordination ability. It is a reflection of a person's overall physical quality.

Once the body's balance ability declines, it is difficult for the body to maintain balance, the risk of falling naturally increases, and the body is more likely to have various accidents. Falling is the leading cause of injury and death among the elderly over 65 years old in my country. This is because the elderly have low bone density and weakened muscle strength. After falling, they are more likely to suffer traumatic fractures and brain injuries. Once the elderly suffer a fracture, it is easy to aggravate the original medical system diseases, and cause complications such as urinary tract infections, bedsores, pneumonia, etc., and the risk of disability and death increases.

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When the balance ability decreases, it means that the coordination ability of various parts of the body decreases, so the body's reaction speed to external stimuli also decreases, making it difficult to make timely and rapid responses, which also increases the risk of various accidents in the body.

Improve balance

Do these exercises

The body's balance ability is generally well maintained when young, and it drops off sharply after the age of 60. Elderly people over 60 can do some exercise to enhance their balance ability. If you are under 50 years old and cannot stand on one leg for 10 seconds with your eyes closed, then you also need to exercise urgently, otherwise your balance ability will drop sharply after the age of 60.

To improve your balance, you can do the following exercises.

First of all, I need to remind you again and again that when doing balance training, you must ensure your own safety and avoid falling. If your balance ability is really not good, you need someone to be ready to support you at any time.

1. Action 1: Stand on one leg

Stand on a hard, flat ground with your feet open, arms naturally stretched out to both sides. You can open your eyes in the early stage, and then gradually change to open your eyes in the later stage. Lift one foot and gently step on the other foot, or gently put it on the calf of the other leg. After 10 to 30 seconds, switch to the other foot. If it is difficult to keep balance, you can also hold on to the wall or chair. Practice 2 to 3 sets a day.

2. Action 2: Single-leg standing advanced action

On the basis of action 1, change the other leg that is not standing to flexion, extension, abduction, and retraction. In the early stage, the speed and amplitude can be controlled to be smaller, and in the later stage, the speed and amplitude can be increased to increase the shaking of the body and further exercise the body's balance ability during exercise. Practice 2-3 sets a day.

3. Action 3: Turning in circles

You can turn in a circle, then stop, stand still for half a minute, and then turn in the opposite direction. The speed of the circle can be from slow to fast, the number of circles can be increased from 1, and the eyes can be opened and closed to gradually increase the difficulty.

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4. Action 4: Core stability training and lower limb strength training

In addition to the above-mentioned movements that specifically train balance, you should also strengthen core stability training and lower limb strength training on a daily basis. For the elderly, Tai Chi, square dancing, and yoga are all good choices for training balance.

References

[1]AraujoCG,deSouzaESilvaCG,LaukkanenJA,FiataroneSinghM,KunutsorSK,MyersJ,FrancaJF,CastroCL.Successful10-secondone-leggedstancep performancepredictssurvivalinmiddle-agedandolderindividuals.BrJSportsMed.2022Sep;56(17):975-980.doi:10.1136/bjsports-2021-105360.

[2]CaoC, CadeWT, LiS, et al.

[3] Seven institutions jointly issued “Joint Tips for Elderly Fall Prevention” (June 17, 2019): https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/i6-m1qj06sx2vGBWiCeYNA

This article is a work of Science Popularization China-Starry Sky Project

Produced by: Science Popularization Department of China Association for Science and Technology

Producer: China Science and Technology Press Co., Ltd., Beijing Zhongke Xinghe Culture Media Co., Ltd.

Author: Zeng Xinyue, popular science creator

Reviewer: Tang Qin, Director and Researcher of the Science Popularization Department of the Chinese Medical Association