Greater use of pacemakers could prevent many falls in nursing homes and in people's own homes, according to research being conducted in European hospitals, including Irish hospitals.
The study is being led by Prof Rose Anne Kenny at Newcastle General Hospital in the UK. Prof Kenny is from Galway. Her project in Newcastle studied cases in which people over 50 had falls but did not know why. In many such cases, she says, the fall is caused by a pause in the heartbeat.
In a study reported in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology, Prof Kenny and her colleagues looked at 175 consecutive patients over 50 years of age who visited an emergency department after falls which had no identifiable cause. Some patients were then given standard treatment and some were given pacemakers.
The pacemakers reduced falls by two-thirds and injuries by 70 per cent in the following year.
The researchers concluded that older people who have non-accidental falls should be referred to heart specialists for evaluation. Prof Kenny said the gains in quality of life, for £1,200 to £1,500 per patient, could be profound.
People who have had more than one fall usually become housebound or go into nursing homes for this reason, she says.
All this could be avoided through the use of pacemakers where the fall was caused by a pause in the heartbeat and the patient could live a normal life at home.
The number of people on acute hospitals' waiting lists has fallen by 31 per cent to 1,035 in Cork and Kerry, the Southern Health Board has announced.
The wait for procedures has also shortened, the health board CEO, Mr Seβn Hurley, said. Factors involved include the appointment of extra consultants in orthopaedics, plastic surgery and opthalmology, extending theatre hours and contracting work out to hospitals with spare capacity.
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