<h1>Please help me, I'm falling</h1>

With the use of medication, falling is not a major symptom of PD; but, it does exist. To determine the reasons for its existence, I am going to divide PD victims into 2 categories: non fallers and fallers.

In my opinion, gate instability and lack of care are the two main determinants of falling but let's hear from the experts. An Australian group uses clinical tests to distinguish fallers and non-fallers.

"Get up and go test' the PWP stands from a sitting position in a chair, walks 3 meters and returns to sitting in the chair. Data are analyzed by, inter alia,

• time taken
• number of steps
• reduction of arm swings,
• heel strikes
• use of walking aids.
• Reaching forward from a standing position without falling or taking one or more steps forward.

Results showed that fallers were those who took frequent small steps and usually had a reduced reach. While interesting, no study has confirmed the usefulness of tests such as these in predicting falls.

So, if there is no test to account for falling, what causes it? Here is my humble, totally unscientific, offering based on the 4 or 5 falls I have had.

• there is the problem of festination. Don't get me started on this phenomenon , if you don't recognize its onset and take steps to nullify it, it will have you on the ground before you know it.
• falls are caused by not lifting your feet (heel-toe) and they scrape along the sidewalk making you a victim of any anomaly in the surface.
• finally, there is the idiot syndrome, the best example of which is my last fall while going down the stairs with my hands filled with stuff at 4:30 AM, without taking care and not using the banister.

Those are my observations. I am a faller, how about you? I refuse to admit that age is a factor but on ne sait jamais - one never knows.

In any event, I plan to take care, especially going down stairs. I am tired of having my face looking as if I had gone 10 rounds with Sonny Liston.