Are you between 50 and 80 years old and can you maintain the equilibrium on one foot for 10 seconds? If the answer is yes, you should not worry, you have less risk of dying in the next ten years. This has been determined by a research published in the magazine British Journal of Sports Medicine. It is a very common exercise in disciplines such as yoga that can be done from home. At first glance it is a simple challenge, but it requires a lot of concentration, both mental and physical.
Researchers, after twelve years of testing and 1,072 people, have concluded that being able to balance on one leg for 10 seconds is linked to nearly twice the odds of dying within ten years in older and middle-aged people , regardless of sex and age, among other conditions.
Is balance a reliable indicator of death risk?
Is balance a reliable indicator of death risk?
Experts from Brazil, Finland, the United States, Australia and the United Kingdom wanted to find out if a balance test could be a reliable indicator of a person’s risk of dying from any cause in the next decade.
Unlike aerobic fitness, muscular strength and flexibility, balance tends to be reasonably well preserved until the sixth decade of life, when it begins to decline relatively quickly, the researchers explain in a statement, indicating that there is little concrete data to support this. relate to clinical outcomes other than falls.
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To conduct the research, the experts relied on the CLINIMEX Exercise cohort study. The current analysis included 1,702 participants aged 51 to 75 years at their first checkup, between February 2009 and December 2020; about two-thirds (68%) were men.
The exercise consists of maintaining balance on one leg for 10 seconds
balance sport older woman 
To perform the tests, weight and various measurements of skinfold thickness were taken, in addition to waist size; details of the medical history were also provided and only those with a stable gait were included. As part of the check, the participants were asked to stand on one leg for 10 seconds without any additional support.
To improve the standardization of the test, they were asked to place the front of the free foot on the back of the opposite leg, keeping their arms at their sides and looking straight ahead; up to three attempts were allowed on each foot.
In total, about 1 in 5 participants failed the test. The inability to do so increased with increasing age, more or less doubling in 5-year intervals from 51-55 years. Ultimately, more than half (about 54%) of people ages 71 to 75 were unable to complete the test.
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During a median follow-up period of seven years, 123 (7%) people died: cancer (32%); cardiovascular diseases (30%); respiratory diseases (9%); and covid complications (7%). Here comes the key fact of the investigation: the proportion of deaths among those who did not pass the test was significantly higher. 17.5% versus 4.5%, reflecting an absolute difference of just under 13%.
In general, those who failed the test were in poorer health: a higher proportion were obese and/or had heart disease, high blood pressure and unhealthy blood fat profiles.
An observational study
This is an observational study and as such cannot establish cause, and since all the participants were white Brazilians, the results may not be more applicable to other ethnicities and nations, the researchers caution.
In addition, information on potentially influential factors, such as recent fall history, physical activity levels, diet, smoking, and medication use, was not available.