Mobility & falls

Howard Blackburn knows exactly why the company to which he has devoted more than 30 years of his working life, is in his opinion a game changer for those looking to keep fit in the second half of their lives. "Because we are the only product, the only manufacturer, who has focused all of its [...]

Two university students have developed a mobile app that can detect within seconds if someone is suffering from a range of serious and potentially debilitating age-related eye conditions. The brainchild of Igor García Atutxa and Francisca Villanueva, the app uses artificial intelligence to analyse a selfie and issue a diagnosis, directing the taker toward the [...]

A UK study of nearly 1,500 older adults has shown a link between reduced physical activity and a lower quality of life. The study conducted by the University of Cambridge on adults aged over 60 has also found that an increase in sedentary time spent watching TV or reading can be similarly connected to a [...]

A $7 million study beginning this summer will help determine if a combination of resistance training and bone-strengthening exercises, coupled with osteoporosis medication or just a targeted drug, can help older adults safely lose weight without sacrificing bone mass. Shedding weight is recommended to help stave off heart disease and diabetes. But slimming down can [...]

Weight and body mass index (BMI) policies introduced by NHS commissioning groups in England are restricting patients' access to hip replacement surgery, researchers claim. A study by the University of Bristol published in BMC Medicine criticises the rules put in place more than a decade ago by NHS clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) across England to [...]

The Michael J Fox Foundation for Parkinson's Research has awarded AI software developer Icometrix a grant to continue exploratory work into brain biomarkers for the disease. The grant from the foundation, set up by the Back to the Future actor following his early onset Parkinson's disease diagnosis in 1991 at the age of just 29, [...]

British-based fitness coach Joe Wicks has joined forces with the NHS to release a dedicated exercise video for people with Parkinson’s disease. The 20-minute video is available free online. It is hoped it will have a positive impact on those suffering from the progressive neurological condition, whose main symptoms include slow movement, stiffness, and tremors. [...]

A more sensitive, less bulky, knitted circuit-embedded knee wearable for wireless sensing of joint movement in real-time has been developed which could highlight early mobility issues - potentially preventing or delaying functional decline. The stretchable knee wearable has been designed by a team from the Singapore University of Technology and Design, and if commercialised could [...]

Millions of osteoarthritis sufferers across the world could soon benefit from a pain relief drug currently used to treat joint issues in horses, cats, dogs and even racing camels. Australian late-stage clinical development company Paradigm Biopharma is investigating injectable pentosan polysulfate sodium (iPPS) as a potential disease-modifying treatment for knee osteoarthritis (KOA). The plant-derived, semi-synthetic [...]

The vibrantly coloured and short-lived African killfish may hold secrets to reversing muscle ageing, say researchers. As we age, our muscles start to waste. Called sarcopenia, it happens to everyone, but no-one has ever understood how and why it occurs. Now new research from the Australian Regenerative Medicine Institute (ARMI) at Monash University in Melbourne, [...]