Straine-On-Success — What Your Gait Can Tell Doctors

Gait, or how people walk, is increasingly viewed as an important indicator of health for elderly people. Changes in gait have been associated with an increased risk for falling and other health outcomes. And researchers have discovered that slowing down or walking more erratically can predict later cognitive impairments, even dementia and Alzheimer’s disease, more than a decade before symptoms appear.

Roee Holtzer, a professor of neurology at Albert Einstein and Yeshiva University and Joe Verghese, director of the Montefiore Einstein Center for the Aging Brain, are collaborating on several research projects to shed light on the relationship between gait and cognition and how to improve them.

Roee Holtzer, a professor of neurology at Albert Einstein and Yeshiva University and Joe Verghese, director of the Montefiore Einstein Center for the Aging Brain, are collaborating on several research projects to shed light on the relationship between gait and cognition and how to improve them.

“We are treating walking abilities as an extension of brain function,” Dr. Verghese says.

The researchers began annually monitoring 600 elderly area residents, including Mr. Victor, starting in 2011. Along with the analysis of their gaits, the seniors receive grip and balance tests, a battery of neuropsych tests and a routine health screening.

Read here the article of the Wall Street Journal.  PDF (410 KB)