Why are hip fractures in the elderly so deadly?
In: Biology
Because of 2 things, 1) Loss of mobility. This puts them at very high risk for a lot of conditions like loss of muscle strength (use it or lose it… and it’s way harder to recuperate loss of muscle in the elderly), lung infections (not breathing deeply makes the lung not expand as much, something called atelectasis), blood clots (when you don’t move your muscles, you don’t squeeze the blood out of your leg veins and clots can form which can travel to the lung) and something as basic as constipation (a change in diet leads to constipation which can lead to other problems like urinary retention and urinary tract infection). 2) Cognitive decline. When elderly people have some memory problems, every event like infections, trauma, surgery, or even changes in environment (being hospitalized) can further increase confusion and worsen cognitive decline which is not always reversible. Elderly people with dementia who undergo general anesthesia don’t always wake up as mentally sharp as before. They seem to lose a bit or a lot of cognitive function. When you become less mentally sharp, you can’t take care of yourself as much and your health further declines.
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