Vim & Vigor - Spring 2020 - Northside Hospital - 36

36

This Just In

Death from
Falling on the Rise
for Older Adults
FALLS HAVE LONG BEEN A THREAT TO
the health of older adults, but their
devastating impact seems to be getting
worse. Over 16 years, the number of falling
deaths tripled for people ages 75 and
older-from 8,613 in 2000 to 25,189 in
2016, according to a study in the Journal
of the American Medical Association.

1 in 4

ACT ON IT

Number of Americans ages 65 and
older who fall each year

Older adults concerned about falling should:
Get a comprehensive fall risk assessment. These
assessments, given by a primary care provider, measure
factors including gait, balance and muscle strength.

Source: Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention

The increasing number of falls could
be attributed to adults living longer with
serious health conditions, including diabetes, which can lead to loss of balance,
and to their taking medications such as
opioids, which affect the nervous system
and cause fatigue and dizziness.

Use Medicare as a resource. When you enroll in
the federal insurance program, you're entitled to a
"Welcome to Medicare" visit in your first year and an
annual wellness visit in subsequent years. Use these
opportunities to evaluate your risk of falls with a
medical provider.
Work with a doctor to review medications that could
cause falls, including opioids and sleep aids.

HIV Testing Rates Are Low in the U.S.
YOU CAN'T TREAT HIV OR PREVENT
its spread unless you know you
have it, but more than 60 percent
of Americans have never been
tested for the virus, according to a
report by the Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention.
Diagnosis and treatment are
key to extending life expectancy
among those with HIV. About
40,000 Americans are diagnosed
with HIV each year.
Some people with specific risk
factors-including sexually active
gay and bisexual men, injection
SPRING 2020 VIM & VIGOR

15%

Percentage
of Americans
who have
HIV but don't
know it
Source: HIV.gov

drug users and those with
multiple sex partners-should
be tested once a year, the
CDC recommends.
Many who should be tested
annually are not. For example, in
50 locations where more than half
of the country's HIV infections are
diagnosed, less than 35 percent
of those who should be tested
annually had been tested in the
prior year. And in rural areas, only
26 percent of people who are
recommended for annual testing
were tested in the prior year.

ACT ON IT

Get tested for HIV.
The CDC recommends
that everyone ages 13
to 64 be tested at least
once. Testing is available
at any time through your
healthcare provider's
office, community health
clinics, local health
department and Veterans
Affairs medical centers.
Many pharmacies also
offer testing. Check
locator.hiv.gov to search for
testing sites in your area.
http://www.HIV.gov http://locator.hiv.gov
Vim & Vigor - Spring 2020 - Northside Hospital

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