Falls as a Geriatric Syndrome: How to Prevent Them? How to Treat Them?

Abstract

This quotation from the late Bernard Isaacs still portrays, four decades after being written, the crude consequence that an older adult may experience after a single fall (1). Despite the enormous efforts of researchers and clinicians to understand the falls syndrome, there is still a significant gap between the knowledge gained about this challenging syndrome and the clinical application of the proven interventions available. The aim of this chapter is to reduce this gap and to provide a rationale for the integration of a risk assessment for falls and fractures into research on the emerging problem of senile osteoporosis in older population.