The University of Kansas Health System is treating a total of 52 COVID patients today, 55 yesterday. Other significant numbers:
- 32 with the active virus today, 32 yesterday
- 3 in ICU, 3 yesterday
- 1 on a ventilator, 0 yesterday
- 20 hospitalized, but out of acute infection phase, 23 yesterday
Key points from today’s guests:
Dr. Jessica Kalendar-Rich, geriatrician, The University of Kansas Health System
- The CDC found that more than 1 out of 4 of Americans aged 65 and older fall each year, leading to more than three million visits to the emergency room and more than 800,000 hospitalizations. Fall death rates in the U.S. went up 30 percent from 2007 to 2016.
- One reason is that there are more people living alone and remaining independent even later in their age.
- One of the major conditions that leads to trouble with falls is anything that is going to affect your balance -- any kind of neurological problem, any history of stroke, brain injury, inner ear problems, or any injury to any of your extremities that can lead to balance issues.
- General weakness is also a factor. We're all at higher risk for increased weakness as we get older and as our muscles start to not work as well, even with doing certain types of exercises. Being able to prevent or limit that lean muscle mass loss is critical.
- So many people with early stages of memory impairment to have higher risk of falling and that's partially because of multitasking. As your brain is working harder to overcome any memory problems, you can have trouble doing physical activity at the same time.
Joey Mitchell, corrective exercise specialist, The University of Kansas Health System
- Many falls happen while you're just getting up out of the chair. That’s first exercise to practice -- just go from a sit to a stand. Plant your feet into the ground using those armrests if you need them to stand and then back to a sit.
- Secondly, single leg balance, just standing on one leg, is a great exercise. You can do it at the counter while you're brushing your teeth or while you're doing any cooking. Then you can stabilize yourself while you're doing them as well.
- The third exercise is taking that balance just a step further and adding in a bit of change of direction. Move your foot, tapping it out to the side, out in front, out behind and then repeat going around in that circle so that leg has to practice changing directions.
- The more you do it, the less tiring it'll get, the easier it'll get, and the more those muscles will improve.
Dr. Dana Hawkinson, director of infection control and prevention, The University of Kansas Health System
- According to the CDC, people who have had the bivalent booster shot have a 15 times lower risk of death than an unvaccinated person.
- The vast majority of the people that are dying now of COVID do tend to be in that older population we know are the most vulnerable.
- Many also have comorbidities, such as chronic heart disease, chronic lung disease, kidney disease, and diabetes. So there are a variety of factors that play into here.
- The main message from the CDC report is that this highlights the importance of actually being up to date with your booster doses.
Wednesday at 8:00 a.m. is the next Show Me the Science episode with Dr. Stites. Nearly 4 out 5 people suffer from chronic and often debilitating lower back pain...are you one of them? Watch to learn if you qualify as a trial participant in research aimed at easing your pain. The University of Kansas Medical Center hopes to enroll hundreds of patients. We'll show you how to sign up on
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