Typically at home and often when alone, 5 million seniors fall at least once in the course of a year, and the cause is not always the lack of balance, an unseen obstacle or dizziness. In fact, about 100 thousand falls a year in our country occur due to a temporary loss of consciousness due to a heart problem. To identify them, Italy was, together with Ireland, the first European country to activate the Anti-Fall First Aid. This is explained by the experts gathered in Rome for the Geriatric Cardiology Congress, co-organized by the Menarini International Foundation.
Frequent and underestimated, but not without risk, falls are one of the greatest threats to the health of the elderly. "In 5-10% of cases - notes Niccolò Marchionni, director of the Cardiovascular Department at the Careggi Hospital in Florence - they translate into fractures, head injuries and injuries, with outcomes that heavily affect the quality and life expectancy. in fact, from the fracture of the femur, mortality is 20-30%, while 50% of patients develop symptoms of anxiety and depression ". In most cases, says Alessandro Boccanelli, president of the Italian Society of Geriatric Cardiology (SICGe), "the falls depend on the loss of balance, on the drugs that are being taken, on obstacles in the house or on poor lighting. However, 30% of the elderly arrive in the emergency room for an unexplained fall, and in half of these cases the reason is a syncope due to cardiovascular reasons ". Syncope is a temporary loss of consciousness due to poor blood flow to the brain and may depend on an excessive slowing of the heart beat. "In 40% of cases - explains Andrea Ungar, head of the Careggi Falls and Syncope Unit - the only symptom is the fall and often requires the implantation of a pacemaker.
Together with the falls they are among the most frequent causes of access to the emergency room and, especially in the elderly, it is not uncommon for the two events to be related. "Identifying when this happens is essential in order to prevent new falls, and this is precisely the task of the 'Syncope and Fall Units' in the emergency rooms. Together with Ireland, Italy was the first European country to activate them: Careggi was the forerunner, followed by the Molinette of Turin, by the Federico II Polyclinic of Naples and Baggiovara of Modena. "Here the elderly, thanks to an 'anti-fall team' composed of a geriatrician and cardiologist, - continues Ungar - are subjected to numerous tests to check if the origin of the fall is an alteration of the heart rhythm, structural heart disease or changes in blood pressure regulation mechanisms. "Understanding the cause is important, he concludes," because, as studies show, it can cut the risk of hospitalizations in half there and reduce healthcare costs by more than a third. "