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In a study following adults in later middle age, those who could not hold a ten-second one-legged stand were markedly more likely to die over the following decade than those who could — even after accounting for age, weight and existing illness.

The ten-second balance test

Why it matters

The idea in context

The 2022 study tracked over a thousand participants aged 51 to 75. Balance is not usually monitored the way blood pressure is, but it draws on muscle strength, inner ear function, vision, and the brain's coordination of all three — so failing it can reflect several systems at once. The finding is an association rather than proof that balance itself is protective. Still, balance is trainable at any age, cheaply and anywhere, which makes it an unusually actionable marker.

Türkçe

Aynı kart, başka bir dilde.

Orta yaşın ilerisindeki yetişkinleri izleyen bir çalışmada, on saniyelik tek ayak duruşunu tutamayanların sonraki on yılda ölme olasılığı tutabilenlere göre belirgin biçimde yüksek çıktı — yaş, kilo ve mevcut hastalık hesaba katıldıktan sonra bile.

On saniyelik denge testi

2022 tarihli çalışma, 51-75 yaş arası binden fazla katılımcıyı izledi. Denge, tansiyon gibi düzenli izlenen bir şey değildir; oysa kas gücünü, iç kulak işlevini, görmeyi ve beynin bu üçünü eşgüdümlemesini birlikte kullanır — bu yüzden başarısız olmak aynı anda birkaç sistemi yansıtabilir. Bulgu, dengenin kendisinin koruyucu olduğunun kanıtı değil bir ilişkidir. Yine de denge her yaşta, ucuza ve her yerde çalışılabilir; bu da onu alışılmadık ölçüde eyleme geçirilebilir bir gösterge yapar.

Source trail

Read beyond the card.

Background reading: Balance (ability)Attribution and context are revised when stronger evidence appears. Corrections are welcome through the editorial page.

Open in the iPhone app Editorial method

Next in the open archiveGetting outdoor light within an hour or so of waking is the strongest everyday signal your body clock receives. It sets the timer for when melatonin arrives that night — which is to say, when you will actually feel sleepy.Q1708

In a study following adults in later middle age, those who could not hold a ten-second one-legged stand were markedly more likely to die over the following decade than those who could — even after accounting for age, weight and existing illness.

The idea in context

Aynı kart, başka bir dilde.

Read beyond the card.

Keep following this thread.

Environmental noise is not only unwanted sound; over time, traffic, aircraft and night-time noise can press on sleep, attention and health.

Oral rehydration therapy uses clean water with the right balance of salts and sugar to help the body absorb fluid lost through diarrhoea.

When Jonas Salk was asked on television who held the patent to his polio vaccine, he answered that the people did — and asked whether you could patent the sun. Polio had been paralysing tens of thousands of children a year.

Training is the stimulus, not the adaptation. Muscle is repaired and reinforced in the hours and days that follow — mostly while you are resting and asleep. Train without recovering and you accumulate the damage without the benefit.

Fe del Mundo founded the Philippines' first pediatric hospital in 1957 and built programmes that carried child healthcare, training and disease prevention beyond its walls.