(HealthDayNews) --Ever wonder how those high-wire artists balance so well way up where the air is thin? It could be their discount shoes.
The Center for Studies in Aging at McGill University in Montreal asked two dozen men to walk a 28-foot balance beam to see whether shoes make a difference in people's sense of balance. The answer: Apparently they do, especially after middle age.
In the research, reported in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, men over 65 fell off the beam twice as often as men under 35, which is no particular surprise. But within each age group, the falls almost doubled for men wearing today's popular and expensive cushioned-sole shoes.
"Foot position awareness" declines not only with age, researchers say, but with the foot's ability to sense surface irregularities through layers of sole and insole. So people with balance problems would do better with soles that are fairly hard and thin, like those in old-fashioned walking shoes.
Best of all, they say, is your own bare feet.
