3 weeks of continuous bed rest is associated with muscle wasting, bone loss, insulin resistance, 30% reductions in maximal cardiac output and stroke volume, orthostatic hypotension, decreased immune function, and decreased physical capacity.
3 days of complete bed rest produces glucose intolerance, mimicking type 2 diabetes.
It is anatomically, physiologically, and psychologically unsound.
Hospital interventions that increase immobilization include physical and pharmacological restraints, urinary and intravenous catheters.
Preventing hospitalized patients from periodically transf2242ing out of bed and promoting walking contributes to a rapid loss of function that in older adults can occur at rates as high as 5% a day, compared with 10% per week in younger adults (Creditor MC et al).
As a result of preoccupation for fall prevention by institutions, older population are in environments that limit their mobilization and increase the risk of falls in the long run, as a result of functional decline.