10 second balance test to measure longevity. What if you can’t?

The longer you manage to stay in balance on one leg it could be a quick and easy way to understand how you will age and also estimate your risk stroke and dementia. A June study by a Brazilian team (published in the BMJ) found that 20% of the 1,700 seniors tested could not balance for 10 seconds, and that inability was associated by researchers with a doubled the risk of death for any cause within 10 years. Problems with balance can be caused, in fact, by a variety of factors, many of which are related to age and first of all frailty. Obviously the seconds change according to the age of the person: previously another research published on the Journal of Geriatric Physical Therapy had quantified the minimum endurance limit for seventy-year-olds in 22 seconds, which dropped to 9 for eighty-year-olds, while for John Brewer, professor of sports sciences at Buckinghamshire New University, people between forty and sixty should be able to balance on one leg (and eyes open) for a minute. But don’t worry: you can always turn around by training.