Why so many more knee replacements?
 

Knee Replacements Double in 10 Years, Study Says - ABC News

It seems to be mostly because of the growing numbers of overweight and obese over the last several decades, plus the desire to stay physically fit by running and other such activities like tennis.

I sometimes worry about my friend who likes to run and play tennis. But I doubt that anything I say will change anything. When it comes to a desire for extreme physical fitness, there are those who are so dedicated they won't heed any warnings.

So we have the overweight and obese on one hand and those who strive for great physical fitness on the other hand.

Arthritis (inflammation) is another cause (worsened by inflammatoy diets, in my opinion).

Your comments are welcome.

The latest criticism is that these operations are being overdone same as heart stents. what is a person suppose to believe?

It's not always an easy decision to make. I had an obese friend in The Villages who used to walk about 4 miles every day. Because of her knees hurting, she gradually walked less and less. The less she walked, the more weight she gained. And the more weight she gained, the more her knees hurt. Eventually, she stopped walking altogether and died of a stroke.

You could ask, "why get a painful knee replacement if you don't have long to live anyway?" Or you could say she might have lived several more years if she had the replacement and was able to walk. Walking might have prolonged her life, but no one knows for sure.

It's a difficult decision that everyone has to make for themselves.

Easier Surgery, better recoveries, better replacement knees, I don't want anymore pain, I want to stay active. You name it. If my knees become too painful, I'll definitely have it done. Why not.

Knees and other joints wear out with normal usage and physical activity. My father needed and got both knees replaced, and was a manual laborer on his feet and lifting all day long for 50 years. That physical activity (and hereditary thinness) kept him, and still keeps him, skinny as a rail at age 85.

You can't blame all knee replacements on obesity and unrighteous eating.

Advancements in the replacement knees and the desire for many in our generation including me, to stay active. In my parents generation it seems to me many of the folks I knew were not nearly as interested in being able to continue playing sports and biking and (name the activity)

My Surgeon told me I 'wore out' my knees by jogging every morning and playing squash every night. i thought i was doing the right thing! Who knew? Now I believe in balance ... everything in moderation. Meeting a friend for a beer might be just as healthy as a second game of Pickleball! :beer3:

My opinion was not meant to be the final word. I just stated off-hand the reasons I could think of. It could be one thing or a combination of all of the above. In your father's case, the manual labor likely was a contributing factor. That would be in the same category as athletic overuse.

If you will go back and read my post I listed arthritis as a cause. Then diet as a contributing factor. There's no doubt that poor diet (especially excess refined sugar) will raise one's risk for inflammation. It's fairly certain it will.

Here we go with the moderation thing again. :loco::) Artificial knees can be worn out too. So I would advise caution.

Good luck with your new knees, hope they last a long time.

Half of the people we knew who received the double knee replacements or single knee replacement were SKINNY. The rest were average weight to slightly overweight.......not morbidly obese.

All of the folks were in their 50's and 60's.

Many were avid snow skiiers in their "prime".

Not sure where you originate, but those in the northern climates seem to have an awful lot of severe knee pain in the winter months during cold weather.

Now, our son who is now almost 42 played soccer as a youth and teen.
He was kicked during a soccer match once which caused a broken leg.
He had many dislocated knees during soccer matches........long story.
He had many atheroscopic surgeries on his knees plus one major surgery on his knee.......his orthopedic surgeon said that (back when he was still a child of ten with Osgood Schlatters Disease and his first broken leg) that he was a "good candidate for adult onset arthritis".

When he was playing ultimate Frisbee up at college, his knee would "go out"......it was very painful.
To this day, in his 40's, he remains active, stretching each morning............taking a morning jog when able to.
Biking when able to.........skiing, hiking, etc.........stays slim and trim. But he does get stiffness in his knees after long car rides.

So often the very athletic end up with knee damage and subsequent surgery. Again, the healthiest of the healthy.

They also found that he did not have the proper groove to hold his knee in place........forget the terminology; long time ago. Patella?

p.s. He is the healthiest eater out there. Not everything is because of diet.

Yes, here we go with the moderation thing again! You say that in a scoffing way, as if moderation is unhealthy. I personally believe that a balance of physical and emotional factors are essential for a healthy and happy life.

There really is something to be said for your surgeon's comments.........

Plain old walking is less harsh than jogging..........

My mom walked everywhere at a fast clip and stayed slim and trim her entire life. When she came to live up in Vermont, our male neighbors would admire the fact that she walked as briskly as a teenager.........she did.

However, hubby and I often joke around that neither of our moms, nor our aunts as we recall them.........rode bicycles, or participated in any of the "sports" of today's more modern seniors. To even picture them doing so, in our mind's eye, is hilarious, to say the least........they were the last of the older generation........

Perhaps too much activity as we age in place, just might be a shock to the joints and such??? Mild walking is good of course. Mom always stretched too.......and remained limber.

NOT ALL ARTHRITIS IS CAUSED BY FOOD.

Our cousin in N.J. has a meat route. He lifts heavy boxes all day long.
He has to "jump off of the truck" and has been doing that for a good 30 plus years.......ruining his knees in the process. His surgeon says he has osteo arthritis which is the "wear and tear" type and it's bone on bone.
He needs double knee replacement surgery as he can barely walk.

You are always mentioning obese folks as if you hate them.

This fellow has experienced the vicious cycle such as when he is in PAIN which is from morning till night.......he cannot exercise. Thus, one does tend to put on weight as they age.........he's in his mid 60's and should be retiring soon.........plus some body builds are stocky and husky which his is. Not everyone is skinny by nature.

He also has a bad back and has had all type of cauterizations and procedures and tons of physical therapy............nothing works.

He's been on all kinds of pain killers including the worst of the worst which they had to wean him off of......like oxycodone or oxycontin......vicodin, etc.......all the heavy duty pain killers.

Arthritis isn't always caused by food.........but from everyday life and wear and tear............such as sports athletes suffer from.

Read my earlier post about our son and his knee surgeries.
It runs in my husband's side of the family as his cousins and his aunts all have had their knees "pop out" and had multiple knee surgeries..........

THEY ARE ALL SKINNY.

Those who compile statistics don't go by someone's group of friends (or people you knew) who had knee problems, which may be 4, 5, or 6 people. Studies usually look for patterns among large numbers of people.

The skinny people you mentioned above may be the runners or joggers who continually put stress on their joints over long periods of time, not to mention they may have had poor diets consisting of energy bars etc..

You mentioned they were not morbidly obese: Why did you insert the word "morbidly"? Statistics show that excess weight, in general, puts extra pressure on knee joints and tends to wear them out faster. But excess weight isn't always necessary to wear out knee joints.


Doesn't matter if they were in their prime or not. Too much pressure on the joints.

I'm from the north-east and I never heard of that.

Is that suppose to prove that it doesn't pay to try to be healthy? It doesn't prove that at all. It just proves that some athletes put too much wear 'n' tear on their knees.

Show me where I said that everything is because of diet. Did you read my opening post?

Villages PL, you may not have said it in THIS post, but having read most of your posts since I signed on to TOTV I feel I am familiar with your style of post and writing and I too feel you often attribute whatever goes wrong with people to their diet. If that's not true then maybe it's something you don't mean, but it appears that I am not the only one who gets that impression. I have bone on bone arthritis in my one knee and arthritis that isn't as severe in my other knee (as well as in my hip and other places). I am a woman's size extra small so it's not from extra weight and I am not an exercise fanatic so it's not from that. However, I have a family history of arthritis and I spent many years caring for and carrying a handicapped child who could not walk or care for herself so I am certain that lifting and carrying her all day long did cause joint damage and wear for me. My doctor has recommended replacements for me but I am not going to get them (yet). There are many reasons a person's joints can wear out. And living in the NE I can tell you that winter's cold is terribly painful for me and the warmth of summer is much easier on my joints. Now you have heard that from 2 people. I don't need a published study to say if that is true or not. I know that's true.