The Times ran a fascinating article from a medical expert after Barry Humphries shock death, re hip fractures following falls by elderly folk. To the layman a hip fracture sounds like a nuisance rather than a death sentence, but apparently not so.
In Britain, 10% of the 700,000 people who annually suffer a hip fracture die within a month. Doubtless it’s the same everywhere. However, the victims are usually frail which one did not sense was the case with Humphries. Nevertheless, apparently the trick to avoid this is to maintain fitness even if that’s just a daily walking regime. But most critical for women and men is regular weight training, boring though this is, to maintain muscular strength and not dwindle into little old ladies (and men).
On that note it would be interesting to do a longevity study re people who’ve always lived in a two-story house and thought nothing of bowling up and down stairs each day. Possibly it adds a year or more to their lives.