Falls Are More Likely When You've Had a Bad Night's Sleep

A study published in Scientific Reports found interrupted sleep raises the risk of falling by decreasing the capability to control posture and balance, reports Medical Xpress . Study participants wore sensors for in-home sleep monitoring and balance testing over two consecutive days. "We all have direct experience of this," says the University of Warwick's Leandro Pecchia. "When we do not sleep well, we may feel a little dizzy and our capability to control our posture and balance is somehow diminished. When we are fit and in good health, our body is able to adapt and we develop a strategy to keep our balance, avoiding falls and incidents. This ability is reduced with aging or when there are other concomitant conditions that may compromise our ability to adapt." Pecchia expects more dramatic results with such experiments replicated in older adults, "whose vulnerability to sleep disruption, postural hypotension, and risk of falls is much greater." He concludes that the study outcomes could inform the understanding of in-hospital falls.