Half of U.S. doomed to life with knee arthritis

Maybe Big Pharma wants the medical device companies having restrictions on their ads because they've heard about this latest disturbing news: researchers claim that nearly HALF of all adults in the U.S. will develop excruciating arthritis of the knee at some point in their lives. Which, if true, will make the market for medical devices like orthopedic knees much larger and far more lucrative than ever before.

Knee arthritis is the leading cause of disability, and the rates of hospitalization for this condition (officially called "knee osteoarthritis") are going through the roof. Statistically speaking, the growing obesity epidemic is at least partially to blame, since additional weight puts undue stress on knee joints. The study found that while 35 percent of average-weight people developed the condition, a whopping 65 percent of obese people suffered from the ailment.

The problem is getting worse. From 2000 to 2006, rates of knee replacement surgeries skyrocketed by 65 percent. Since this condition is degenerative, usually the only solution doctors can recommend is joint replacement surgery.

It's just another reason to try to keep your weight in check as you get older. It's the "use it or lose it" theory: you've got to stay active to keep fit. .

Always giving you the straight dope, no "fair balanced" statement required,

William Campbell Douglass II, M.D.
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Boren's Laws of the Bureaucracy: 1. When in doubt, mumble. 2. When in trouble, delegate. 3. When in charge, ponder.