What Causes Poor Physical Balance?

Poor physical balance can have various causes, ranging in severity from 'worrying' to 'very serious'. Finding the true cause means ruling out or confirming each possibility – in other words, diagnosis.

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Diagnosis is usually a complex process due to the sheer number of possible causes and related symptoms. In order to diagnose poor physical balance, we could:

Research the topic
Find a doctor with the time
Use a diagnostic computer system.

The process is the same, whichever method is used.

Step 1: List all Possible Causes

We begin by identifying the disease conditions which have "poor physical balance" as a symptom. Here are five possibilities:

Premature Aging
Vitamin B12 Need
Mercury Toxicity
Dehydration
Muscular Dystrophy

Step 2: Build a Symptom Checklist

We then identify all possible symptoms and risk factors of each possible cause, and check the ones that apply:

regular episodes of diarrhea

dry eyes

frequent runny nose

being easily irritated

being very easily irritated

severe vision disturbances

much past amalgam filling removal

frequent confusion/disorientation

high systolic blood pressure

morning sickness

recent onset diarrhea

cloudy urine

... and more than 100 others

Step 3: Rule Out or Confirm each Possible Cause

A differential diagnosis of your symptoms and risk factors finds the likely cause of poor physical balance:

Cause	Probability	Status
Muscular Dystrophy	94%	Confirm
Vitamin B12 Need	20%	Unlikely
Dehydration	5%	Ruled out
Mercury Toxicity	3%	Ruled out
Premature Aging	0%	Ruled out

* This is a simple example to illustrate the process

Arriving at a Correct Diagnosis

The Analyst™ is our online diagnosis tool that learns all about you through a straightforward process of multi-level questioning, providing diagnosis at the end.

In the Symptoms Of Aging section of the questionnaire, The Analyst™ will ask the following question about how good is your balance:

How good is your balance? Stand on a hard surface with feet together. Close your eyes and lift your dominant foot about six inches (15cm). How long can you stand on your other foot without falling or opening your eyes? Try to do this 3 times and average.

Possible responses:

→ I can't do this test / I am injured / don't know
→ Under 4 seconds (poor balance)
→ 4-9 seconds
→ 10-25 seconds
→ Over 25 seconds (very good balance)

Based on your response to this question, which may indicate poor balance, average balance or good balance, The Analyst™ will consider possibilities such as:

Dehydration

An inner ear fluid imbalance caused by dehydration can lead to poor balance.

Mercury Toxicity (Amalgam Illness)

Muscular Dystrophy

Muscular Dystrophy causes muscle weakness which can make it increasingly difficult to maintain balance. Frequent falls and difficulty with walking are often experienced by patients. Having good balance would tend to rule out Muscular Dystrophy.

Premature/Signs of Aging

Reuters, March 17, 2008: How well people get around and keep their balance in old age is linked to the severity of changes in their brains, research suggests. Age-related white matter brain changes are associated with gait and balance disturbances.

Dr. Hansjoerg Baezner, from University of Heidelberg in Mannheim, Germany, and colleagues studied the impact of age-related white matter changes on functional decline in 639 men and women between the ages of 65 and 84 who underwent brain scans as well as walking and balance tests. Of the group, 284 had mild age-related white matter changes, 197 moderate changes, and 158 severe changes.

They found that people with severe white matter changes were twice as likely to score poorly on tests of walking and balance as those with mild white matter changes. They further found that people with severe changes were twice as likely as the mild group to have a history of falls. The moderate group was one-and-a-half times as likely as the mild group to have a history of falls.

Vitamin B12 Requirement

Difficulty with balance is a symptom of B12 deficiency.

Concerned or curious about your health? Try The Analyst™