Greetings!
Welcome to the inaugural issue of our weekly news round up. Every week, UpRight Science gathers all the news, tips and POVs relevant to balance research, research related to falling, food, diet, exercise and habits that help prevent falling and strengthen a person’s balance.
Balance is a measurable health marker, and we believe that there aren’t enough people aware of how important it is to measure and track it over time. We intend to change that. Our mission is simple: to keep the world in balance.
Join us in this effort and subscribe to our weekly roundup today.
New Research & Data
‘Super Movers’ Show Signs of Exceptional Brain Aging
MedPage Today
Adults aged 80+ who walk as fast as people 30 years younger had roughly half the risk of cognitive impairment across multiple cohorts, linking preserved gait and mobility to healthier brain aging.
UpRight POV: Gait speed and balance are windows into whole-body and brain health. This reinforces why balance deserves to be tracked as a core health metric in anyone’s annual physical, not just a fall-risk afterthought.
Digital tools and wearables help people boost physical activity (JAHA study)
Journal of the American Heart Association
A recently published JAHA study reports that smartphone apps and wearable activity trackers measurably increased physical activity in people with heart disease.
UpRight POV: We are encouraged to see indicators that tracking one’s health can lead to measurable results.
New sedative prescriptions may raise fall risk and ED visits within 30 days of discharge
McKnight’s Long-Term Care News
Researchers found that patients who started on new sedatives faced elevated fall and emergency-visit risk in the month after hospital discharge; those with low pre-stay medication tolerance had a 20% higher fall risk.
UpRight POV: Medication-driven fall risk is a serious problem. In fact, our team at UpRight Science has witnessed this phenomenon first-hand with some of our loved ones. Imagine if your doctor ordered a quick balance screen at your emergency discharge? It could flag exactly these high-risk transitions.
Helping Veterans Stay Strong & Independent through Falls Prevention
National Council on Aging (NCOA)
NCOA details how older veterans fall at higher rates than civilians, face unique barriers to care, and benefit from evidence-based balance and falls-prevention programs.
UpRight POV: Veterans are an underserved, higher-incidence population for falls. We recognize the need to serve the people who served our country.
How Injury and Violence Prevention Can Support Falls Prevention
National Council on Aging (NCOA)
NCOA outlines how pairing injury-prevention agencies with falls-prevention programs expands reach, funding, and community-level impact for older adults.
UpRight POV: It is exciting to learn about non-profit organizations partnering in unexpected ways (based on research) in order to serve a more expansive population.
Maintaining Your Balance: Health Tips & News
The secret to keeping up mobility with age
The New Indian Express
Experts argue that while some decline is natural, early intervention through exercise, disease control, and fall prevention can preserve mobility well into later life.
UpRight POV: We love this consumer-friendly framing of “intervene early”—it’s a useful tone to encourage improvements among patients.
Can Tai Chi Help You Age Better?
MedShadow Foundation
Reviews tai chi’s benefits for balance and fall prevention, cardiovascular health, and chronic pain relief in older adults.
UpRight POV: Tai chi remains the most evidence-backed balance practice for seniors—a credible complement to recommend alongside measurement. In fact, our CEO, Terry Chabrowe, and his wife Paula do Tai Chi for balance every week!
The Fall Prevention Training Nobody Does!
YouTube
A trainer makes the case for power and fast-twitch muscle training (not just slow strength work) as an under-used route to preventing falls in older adults.
UpRight POV: The “power, not just strength” angle is gaining traction. We believe in this wholeheartedly! The key to good balance is the response capability of Type II muscles.
If You Can Do These 4 Classic Exercises Daily at 60, You’re Aging Like an Athlete
Eat This, Not That
Outlines four foundational exercises tied to lower fall risk, more independence, and better quality of life, noting balance is strongly associated with mobility and fall prevention.
UpRight POV: Strength + balance are inseparable and we want you to understand how important core strength is to long-term balance.
Also in the News
A few adjacent stories from this week that are worth a glance.
- The Wearable Data Your Doctor Actually Wants — NYT (June 25)
- FDA drops enforcement against Whoop after blood-pressure feature tweak — STAT (June 24)
- My Father Wants to Age in Place. AI Will Be Watching (Sensi.ai) — WIRED (June 23)
- Little hits in sports may be as dangerous as concussions — The Conversation (June 30)