Knee Replacements now common in YOUNGER Patients!
It is not a big surprise that weight is a big factor in Knee Replacement Surgeries. In fact, it is a modifiable risk factor for knee surgery. As a Physical Therapist, I deal with pre- and post-op cases of these conditions and in the past 12 years of my practice, I have noticed that the patients I see with post-op knee or hip replacements are getting younger and younger.
I wanted to share with everyone that article which totally hits the spot. It is real and it is what is happening to our society, not only in the United States but in the world.
Here is a copy of that article:
ADDING POUNDS, NEW KNEES:
In his mid-forties, Charles Carroll, a letter carrier in Shrewsbury, Mass., started taking anti-inflammatory medicine for his achy knees. Despite his young age, osteoarthritis had begun to settle in.
Over the next decade, the pain became so bad that at times he had difficulty walking. Eventually he began skipping lunch because standing up afterward was too painful. “My knees would snap like dry wood when I got up in the morning,” said Mr. Carroll, describing the sound of bone grating on bone.
So last year, at the age of 54, Mr. Carroll underwent his first knee replacement. He will receive his second replacement in December. It is becoming a familiar story. While the number of annual knee replacements has doubled in the last decade, the number in people under age 65 has nearly tripled. Experts have puzzled over this surgical trend. Some attributed it to aging baby boomers trying too hard to maintain active, weekend-warrior lifestyles. Other researchers blamed it on aggressive marketing of the procedures.
Experts had wondered whether younger patients were opting for surgery prematurely to preserve an active lifestyle. “Many people assume that younger patients have less pain and better function than older patients, that they’re doing it earlier in their disease process,” said Dr. David Ayers, a co-author of the study and chair of orthopedic surgery at the University of Massachusetts Medical School.
The number of total knee replacements more than doubled in the past decade, from 313,618 in 2001 to 644,243 in 2011, according to national data. In patients between the ages of 45 and 64, the number jumped to about 274,000 from 102,000 in that decade. Younger people now make up 43 percent of all knee replacement patients, about an 11 percent increase in the last 10 years.
Prior research has found a strong association between obesity and osteoarthritis. Excess weight puts stress on joints, causing them to break down, and some research suggests that inflammation associated with obesity adds to the damage. Weight loss reduces knee pain in patients with osteoarthritis.
“I do believe patients are getting more osteoarthritis because of the obesity, and getting more severe arthritis at a younger age, and needing the surgery sooner,” said Dr. M. Elaine Husni, director of the arthritis and musculoskeletal center at the Cleveland Clinic. Dr. Husni was not involved with the study.
Often patients with obesity have medical problems that raise the risk of complications during surgery, such as diabetes, pulmonary artery disease and poor circulation. Knee replacements are often more complicated in heavier individuals, requiring special larger implants and tools. Some studies have also reported lower implant survival time in obese patients.
Obesity “is a modifiable risk factor for knee surgery,” said Dr. Husni. “We can change this.”
Actual article can be found HERE.
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