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RESEARCH

VITAL SIGNS

Aging: Unsteady on Your Feet? Try

Moving to Music
By RONI CARYN RABIN

NOV. 26, 2010

Elderly people in a new study cut their risk of falling by more than half after
they took classes in eurhythmics, an exercise-and-music program designed for
young children.
The 12-month trial recruited 134 people, average age 75, who were
unsteady on their feet. Half were randomly assigned to weekly hourlong
eurhythmics classes for the first six months, and the other half took no classes
until the following six months.
The program, developed by the early-20th-century Swiss composer mile
Jaques-Dalcroze, teaches movement in time to music, from Mozart minuets to
jazz improvisations. Participants have to walk and turn around, stay in step
with changing tempos, learn to shift their weight and balance, handle objects
while walking, and make exaggerated upper-body movements while walking.
The two groups were monitored to determine how many times they fell. In
the first group, there were just 24 falls over the first six months, compared
with 54 among those who were not in the classes.
Even after the classes ended, the participants maintained their
improvements in balance, walked with a more regular gait and were better
able to walk while doing other things. The study was published online in
Archives of Internal Medicine.
The papers lead author, Dr. Andrea Trombetti of the University Hospitals
and Faculty of Medicine of Geneva, said that despite the results, it was still
unclear how music affected walking.

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San Marcos Senior Center
111 Richmar Ave

Session 1: February 4-March 31

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Mon & Thurs 2-3pm
14 classes / $28 per session
760-593-4570
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