I fell last night.  The dewey grass and darkness offered perfect conditions as I took a quick cut to maneuvered my dog,  Rosie, through her agility course.  Righting myself, I continued.  I fell in yoga class not too long ago, my elbow slipping off the back of my arm in bakasana, shoulder and cheek hitting the hardwood floor.  I fall regularly.  I'm active.  It's not a problem.  I'm strong and agile and, most importantly,  I'm not 80.  

Aging and falling is a bad combo.  Studies indicate that 30 to 50 percent of elderly people fear falling  more than other anxieties like fear of being robbed in the street, fear of forgetting an appointment and fear of financial problems. If they haven't fallen, they see their friends or neighbors falling and the resultant consequences.  

Seniors know this.  Older people are cautioned against the dreaded fall and rugs are removed, walker and canes are offered and grab bars are installed.  Then, out comes the life alert necklace.  Good, yes?  But now, in additional to all of the other fears that come with aging, they develop a fear of falling.  As one woman put it:  

''Yes, you develop an awful fear. You don't know when it's going to happen. It starts affecting you emotionally, mentally and everything else. Eventually you get paranoid. You're afraid to do anything. So I'm living with this terrible fear of walking. If you stay home, you go crazy. If you go out, you're in fear. Where's your life?''

The fear lead to inactivity which leads to physical deterioration which leads to . . . . well, you get it.  

The statistics are not reassuring.  The rate of falls has been dramatically increasing for Americans over 65 with falls being the leading cause of injury-related death.  Twenty to forty percent of hip fractures will result in a death within a year.  But, it's not only a death that's the issue.  It starts a downward spiral of medical problems and for some the end of independent living. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services projects, anticipate by the year 2020, the annual price tag for care related to falls among seniors will more than double to $43.8 billion.