Loss of balance in old age and brain changes

Age-related white matter brain changes, also called leukoaraiosis, are frequently seen in older people and differ in severity, and the new study suggests that they are associated with gait and balance disturbances. Neurologists, geriatricians and family doctors often send older patients for brain scans to rule out severe brain atrophy (wasting), a tumor, stroke or brain infection because of mild mental difficulties, unsteadiness or depressed mood, and get back white matter changes as the main finding, Dr. Hansjoerg Baezner told Reuters Health.

University of Heidelberg in Mannheim, Germany, studied the impact of age-related white matter changes on functional decline in 639 men and women between the ages of 65 and 84 who underwent brain scans as well as walking and balance tests. Of the group, 284 had mild age-related white matter changes, 197 moderate changes, and 158 severe changes. They found that people with severe white matter changes were twice as likely to score poorly on tests of walking and balance as those with mild white matter changes. They further found that people with severe changes were twice as likely as the mild group to have a history of falls. The moderate group was one-and-a-half times as likely as the mild group to have a history of falls.