Once you've taken a tumble, you are definitely more afraid to fall. I'm 61. In the last year I've fallen while trying to go in the water at Kona with flippers on for my first bit of snorkeling. I fell on a sea urchin and got Wana in my hand. I was told to urinate on it, so I did. Lucky I didn't get it in my behind, or I'd have had to have my wife help me. Then while doing my daily walk, I fell when a cute gal was walking her dog and I took my eye off where I was going and stepped in a hole. Then when taking my bicycle ride, a car was parked in front of me and two cars were approaching from opposite directions, so I tried to get up on the sidewalk and went over the handlebars. I've now got tendinitis in my shoulder, months later. You bet I'm afraid of falling again.

Wow...this is truly a case of mind over body

I'm only 45 and I'm afraid to fall. I've had several bad ones over the past couple of years (even ended up in a walking cast for awhile after one). I *have* learned to 'just fall' and not flail about trying to stop myself, as I seem to get hurt worst when I do that. I just drop. I can clean up the mess later.

Hmmm. I wonder if this stands true for people taking DUI tests where they have to walk the line or stand on one foot while raising the other? Test anxiety? A good defense in court?

I have a bit of nerve damage in my legs, so I have a fear of falling on rough ground. In Switzerland I was introduced to Nordic Walking with these ski pole type things. Solved the problem and I came home with a pair!

Some of you seem to have missed the point of this article.

This isn't about "test anxiety" and it isn't about anyone's age. It's actually about a couple of subtle and not-so-subtle cognitive issues that can creep up on anyone, but are more likely to happen as one ages.

Read the article again. You'll see that this is about risk assessment and it's effect on personal safety. It's a cry for cognitive assessments as people age, in order to identify problems and potential problems in order to find ways to prevent potentially deadly falls.

This is NOT a laughing matter. This is no excuse for jokes. This is information presented as a wake up call for all of us, and in particular for those of us with aging relatives or who are, ourselves, aging. In the long run, the only way to avoid such potential problems for yourself is to die young. I doubt that any of you seriously want that.

As a nurse I see the results of falls all the time and people very often fall easily. I myself have had a number of falls from a standing position. My husband works in the neurosurgical ICU of a major teaching hospital and they see major head injuries from falls all the time. People doing things they should not be doing without assistance such as a 89 year old man on the top of a ladder cleaning out gutters or hanging Christmas lights. But anyone call fall, at any age. Two years ago he had a 35 year old man fall backward off a ladder onto his driveway (while he was hanging Christmas lights), crushing his head. Left three children and a wife behind. People should use every precaution when climbing on anything. And if you are on a medication that thins your blood like aspirin, coumadin, Lovenox etc, you must be extra cautious.