It appears that traumatic brain injuries account for half of all deaths from falls in Americans age 65 and older, according to a report released by the U.S. Center for Disease Control and Prevention and published in the June issue of the Journal of Safety Research.

Getting old does not come only with the wisdom of the age but also with falls, as Marlena Wald, a CDC epidemiologist who co-authored the study, said. “Falls are not an inevitable consequence of aging. These head injuries are not inevitable, either.”

The researchers examined 16,000 deaths in 2005 trying to figure out what role brain injuries play in fatal elderly falls. The data were provided by the National Center for Health statistics’ National Vital Statistics System and the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality’s Nationwide Inpatient Sample.

Overall, the report found that brain injuries incurred during falls accounted for almost 8,000 deaths and 56,000 hospitalizations in 2005 among elderly Americans.

Pat Flemming, a senior physical therapist and researcher at Vanderbilt University said most old people who fall don’t worry about their head. “A lot of people don’t think a fall is serious unless they broke a bone, they don’t think it’s serious unless they break a hip,” Flemming was quoted by the Associated Press.

What is more worrisome is that some brain injuries do not have immediate consequences, the elderly being still conscious after falling. Some of these people, although active and talking, might die an hour or two after the fall, the report warns.

Each year, one in three Americans aged 65 and older falls, and 30 percent of such falls cause injuries requiring medical treatment.

The report also enumerates some steps old people should do in order to prevent falls. More exactly, they should take more exercise in order to help their muscle in the legs to have a good mobility and balance, they should wear glasses to improve their vision and they should be careful with the use of some medicines, which might have serious side effects like lack of coordination or thinking trouble. Also, floor clutter should be reduced providing better lighting.

Dr. Ileana Arias, director of the CDC’s National Center for Injury Prevention and Control fears that, as the numerous baby boom generation hits retirement age, more people would fall and either die or require expensive hospital care.