(Press-News.org) A new study, "Timing of Orthostatic Hypotension and its Relationship with Falls in Older Adults", has brought critical insights into the assessment of orthostatic hypotension, a drop in blood pressure commonly found among older adults when transitioning from a sitting or lying position to a standing position that can lead to dizziness and falls.
Published in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society (JAGS) and based on a secondary analysis of the "Study to Understand Fall Reduction and Vitamin D in You (STURDY)," this study examined the prevalence of orthostatic hypotension at different time points after standing in a population of older adults, and it also explored the association between orthostatic hypotension and fall risk.
Key findings from the study, which involved community-dwelling adults aged 70 and older, revealed that orthostatic hypotension was most prevalent and symptomatic within 1-2 minutes after standing. However, the study also demonstrated that orthostatic hypotension assessments conducted after 4 to 6 minutes of standing were more informative for predicting fall risk.
According to Lewis A. Lipsitz, MD, Director, Hebrew SeniorLife Marcus Institute for Aging Research and Hebrew SeniorLife’s Chief Academic Officer, “The findings have important implications because falls represent a major cause of serious, life-threatening injury in older adults, and understanding the timing of orthostatic hypotension assessments can help clinicians identify those at highest risk and institute appropriate interventions to reduce falls and related injuries.”
The lead author was Aldis H. Petriceks, BA, Harvard Medical School. Co-authors include:
Lawrence J. Appel, MD, MPH, Director of the Welch Center for Prevention, Epidemiology and Clinical Research, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health;
Edgar R. Miller 3rd, MD, PhD, Deputy Director, Johns Hopkins Institute for Clinical and Translational Science;
Christine M. Mitchell, ScM, Senior Research Associate, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health;
Jennifer A. Schrack, PhD, MS, Professor, Welch Center for Prevention, Epidemiology and Clinical Research, Johns Hopkins Center on Aging and Health;
Kenneth J. Mukamal, MD, MPH, MA, Department Associate, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center;
Lewis A. Lipsitz, MD, Irving and Edyth S. Usen and Family Chair in Medical Research, Hebrew SeniorLife, Professor of Medicine, Harvard Medical School and Chief, Division of Gerontology, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center;
Amal A. Wanigatunga, PhD, MPH, Assistant Professor, Johns Hopkins Center on Aging and Health, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health;
Timothy B. Plante, MD, Associate Director of Preventive Cardiology, Johns Hopkins Ciccarone Center for the Prevention of Cardiovascular Disease MHS, Assistant Professor, University of Vermont Medical Center;
Erin D. Michos, MD, MHS, Associate Director of Preventive Cardiology, Johns Hopkins Ciccarone Center for the Prevention of Cardiovascular Disease, The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine; and
Stephen P. Juraschek, MD, PhD, Section for Research, Division of General Medicine, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center.
This work was supported by the Johns Hopkins Institute for Clinical and Translation Research, Grant/Award; Number: UL1TR003098; Mid-Atlantic Nutrition Obesity Research Center, Grant/Award Number: P30DK072488; National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, Grant/Award Number: 7K23HL135273; National Institute on Aging, Grant/Award Numbers: 5K24AG065525, U01AG047837.
About Hebrew SeniorLife
Hebrew SeniorLife, an affiliate of Harvard Medical School, is a national senior services leader uniquely dedicated to rethinking, researching, and redefining the possibilities of aging. Hebrew SeniorLife cares for more than 4,500 seniors a day across six campuses throughout Greater Boston. Locations include: Hebrew Rehabilitation Center-Boston and Hebrew Rehabilitation Center-NewBridge in Dedham; NewBridge on the Charles, Dedham; Orchard Cove, Canton; Simon C. Fireman Community, Randolph; Center Communities of Brookline, Brookline; and Jack Satter House, Revere. Founded in 1903, Hebrew SeniorLife also conducts influential research into aging at the Hinda and Arthur Marcus Institute for Aging Research, which has a portfolio of more than $85 million, making it one of the largest gerontological research facilities in the U.S. in a clinical setting. It also trains more than 1,000 geriatric care providers each year. For more information about Hebrew SeniorLife, visit our website at https://www.hebrewseniorlife.org or follow us on our blog, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and LinkedIn.
END
Study highlights optimal timing for assessing orthostatic hypotension in older adults and its impact on fall risk
2023-11-06
ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:
RIT researcher looks for genetic switch to prevent ‘sleeping sickness’ in cattle
2023-11-06
As parasites adapt to a warming world, an infectious disease expert at Rochester Institute of Technology has his eye on the tsetse fly in sub-Saharan Africa. The biting fly transmits Trypanosomiasis, or “sleeping sickness,” to cattle there and could someday migrate to northern climates, including to the United States.
RIT researcher Bolaji Thomas is leading a $650,000 study funded by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the National Institute of Food and Agriculture, and the Agriculture ...
Improving the efficacy of cancer immunotherapy with modified CAR-T cells
2023-11-06
CAR-T cell therapy is a last hope for many patients with blood, bone marrow or lymph gland cancer when other treatments such as chemotherapy are unsuccessful. A limiting factor of this otherwise very effective and safe therapy is that the cells used in the process quickly reach a state of exhaustion. Researchers at the University of Freiburg have now been able to prevent this exhaustion and thus significantly improve the effect of the therapy in a preclinical animal model. The new results have been published in the journal Nature Immunology.
Using the body’s own defences ...
UMD researchers developed a nasal vaccine that prevents COVID in preclinical studies
2023-11-06
A team of University of Maryland researchers developed a nasal spray vaccine that delivers the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein into cells of the airway in mice and hamsters, triggering an immune response that significantly reduced infection and spread of COVID-19. The technology can be adapted to induce immunity to other respiratory illnesses, such as influenza and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) infections.
A nasal vaccine for respiratory viruses would be a significant improvement over intramuscular shots, because they are less invasive and stop viral particle replication in the airway, before a virus can enter the bloodstream. This could improve the rate ...
Learning more about how flu strains evolved may help guide future vaccine development – SFU research
2023-11-06
Simon Fraser University researchers studying the evolutionary history of flu viruses have found that a new quantitative analysis of how they evolved may help predict future strains. The research draws on a field known as phylogenetics, which focuses on how groups of organisms are evolutionarily related, and is published in the journal Science Advances.
Researchers used large phylogenetic ‘trees’ to predict which strains are most likely to grow during the upcoming flu season, and determined that this approach was moderately effective in detecting future strains of the influenza virus, and could be another tool in the toolbox to guide seasonal ...
UTSA psychology professor, grad student to research cognitive impairment in cancer patients
2023-11-06
(SAN ANTONIO, NOVEMBER 6, 2023) — The University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA) associate professor of psychology Joe Houpt, is part of a team that has earned a one-year, $50,000 grant from the Mays Cancer Center at the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio (UT Health San Antonio).
The project, “Surviving is Not Enough: Enhancing Cognitive Function in Cancer Survivors through Movement and Introspection,” aims to measure and enhance the cognitive functioning of cancer survivors at the Mays Cancer ...
Viano receives NSF CAREER Award
2023-11-06
Samantha Viano, Assistant Professor, Education, received funding from the National Science Foundation for the project: "CAREER: Second Chance STEM: Uncovering school policies structuring access to and engagement in high school STEM credit recovery."
Viano will conduct three individual studies as part of this research. The first study will be located in 14 schools in a large and demographically changing suburban school district. This work will be followed by a survey of optimal policy/practice ...
Furst to study disinfection resiliency and microbial risk in drinking water distribution systems during extreme heat disasters
2023-11-06
Kirin Furst, Assistant Professor, Civil, Environmental and Infrastructure Engineering, is set to receive funding from the National Science Foundation for the project: "Disinfection Resiliency and Microbial Risk in Drinking Water Distribution Systems During Extreme Heat Disasters."
Furst and Katherine E. Graham, Assistant Professor, School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, will evaluate the effect of extreme heat on disinfection efficacy and failure risk in drinking water distribution systems, and evaluate a novel engineering solution to improve ...
CEC researchers to receive funding for study aimed at broadening students' mindset for ethical and responsible cybersecurity in AI
2023-11-06
Aditya Johri, Professor, Information Sciences and Technology; Khondkar Islam, Professor, Associate Chair, Undergraduate Studies, Information Sciences and Technology; and Vivian Motti, Associate Professor, Information Sciences and Technology, are set to receive $299,486 from the National Science Foundation for the project: "EAGER: Education DCL: An Embedded Case Study Approach for Broadening Students' Mindset for Ethical and Responsible Cybersecurity in AI."
Using prior research on situated learning and perspectival thinking, the project team will create a series of four ...
Yang receives funding for climate risk profile studies for Africa
2023-11-06
Ruixin Yang, Associate Professor, Geography and Geoinformation Science/Assistant Director, Center for Earth Observing Spatial Research (CEOSR), received $8,000 from the International Food Policy Research Institute for the project: "Climate Risk Profile Studies For Africa."
Yang is producing hazard maps by major crops and by seasons.
He is conducting an extensive review of existing hazard development methods employed by the Research Program on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security (CCAFS).
Yang is also developing a Python program that focuses on mapping and identifying ...
Lebovic receives funding for Visiting Research Scholarship at Knight First Amendment Institute At Columbia University
2023-11-06
Sam Lebovic, Professor, History, received funding for: "Visiting Research Scholarship at the Knight First Amendment Institute at Columbia University."
His project will focus on the law and politics of public employee speech, focusing particularly on how a modern bureaucratized American government should manage the speech of its employees while balancing competing democratic values. The project will explore such problems as academic freedom, administrative law, public sector employment law, transparency, and whistleblowing regulation. It will seek to generate new understandings of legal ...