By Paula Span, KFF Health News

For a while, walking the dog felt hazardous.

Earl Vickers was accustomed to taking Molly, his shepherd-boxer-something-else mix, for strolls on the beach or around his neighborhood in Seaside, California. A few years ago, though, he started to experience problems staying upright.

“If another dog came toward us, every single time I’d end up on the ground,” recalled Vickers, 69, a retired electrical engineer. “It seemed like I was falling every other month. It was kind of crazy.”

Most of those tumbles did no serious damage, though one time he fell backward and hit his head on a wall behind him. “I don’t think I had a concussion, but it’s not something I want to do every day,” Vickers said, ruefully. Another time, trying to break a fall, he broke two bones i

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