The number of older Americans who fall and suffer serious, even fatal, injuries is soaring, as the population ages and people live longer in bad shape.
 

The retirement communities, assisted living facilities, and nursing homes where millions of Americans live are trying to balance safety and their residents’ desire to live as they choose, The New York Times reports.

 

The number of people over 65 who died after a fall reached nearly 24,000 in 2012 — almost double the number 10 years earlier, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Researchers say that there has also been a rise in diseases linked to falls: diabetes, heart disease, stroke, arthritis, and Parkinson’s disease. In some cases, the medication to treat the disease can increase the risk of falling.

More than 2.4 million people over 65 were treated in emergency departments for injuries from falls in 2012 alone, an increase of 50 percent over a decade. All told, in the decade from 2002-2012, more than 200,000 Americans over 65 died after falls. Falls are the leading cause of injury-related death in that age group.