Former President George H.W. Bush's Fall Common Among Elderly

— -- A fall that left former President George H.W. Bush with a fractured vertebrae has shined a light on an incredibly common source of injury for the elderly.

The former president, 91, fell at his home fracturing his C2 vertebrae, according to a statement. Bush never lost consciousness and his spinal column and nerves weren’t affected by the fall. He remains in fair condition with a neck brace at a Maine Medical Center, according to his spokesperson.

As Bush recovers, experts say a former president faces the same dangers from falling that other elderly people face.

Dr. Laura Dugan, director of the Division of Geriatric Medicine at Vanderbilt University, said that one-third of elderly people will fall in a given year and of those another third will end up with a fracture.

"There are a host of reasons why that happens," Dugan explained. "Your balance becomes impaired, they don’t see as well, muscle strength declines with age. If you trip on something you can’t catch yourself."

Hip fractures are most common among the elderly with 258,000 people admitted due to hip fractures annually, according to the U.S. Centers and Disease Control and Prevention. Dugan said as elderly people lose muscle strength they have less cushion when they fall meaning the bones are more exposed. Additionally bones can often become more brittle with age increasing the chance of fracture.

While Dugan has not treated Bush, she said the former president may need to be specially fitted for a neck brace because the C2 vertabrae was fractured.

“It is part of what stabilizes the skull in the spinal column,” she told ABC News. “It means they’ll have to be especially careful to …make it a more stabilizing brace.”

Dugan also said one big risk going forward is the amount of time it can take for the bone to repair in a fracture in an older person.

“It can take double what you expect in a younger individual,” she explained and pointed out that in some people, “the bones will not heal.”

In those people surgery is necessary to help keep the bones aligned. However, Dugan said Bush’s overall health and activity bode well for his recovery.

“He’s been an active gentleman throughout his life,” she said.

Bush, 91, suffers from a form of Parkinson's Disease and uses a motorized scooter to get around, according to the Associated Press.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.