Joint Economics
Marijuana? No. Hips and knees. Americans replace 400,000 of them every year. The total national bill for hip replacements in 2007 was $19 billion, and $26 billion for knees, according to the federal Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. So what’s causing all this?
Being overweight? One recent review found that 27 percent of hip replacements and 69 percent of knee replacements might be attributed to obesity.
Too much jogging? No definitive link has been found between osteoarthritis of the knee and running (or any other sport).
Injuries? According to one big study, 10 to 20 years after a person injures the anterior cruciate ligament or menisci of the knee, that person has a 50 percent chance of having arthritis of the knee.
Failure to stay fit? No definitive link exists between increased flexibility and lower, or higher, rates of osteoarthritis.
Will alternative medicine help? “There’s some evidence to suggest glucosamine and chondroitin sulfate may be helpful in O.A. once it has started, but overall the results are inconclusive,” says Dr. Laith M. Jazrawi, chief of the sports medicine division at NYU Hospital for Joint Diseases.
I think there has been too much jogging.
Ick. Not good news for me. According to this article, I have a 50% chance of having arthritis in my knee by the time I’m 30.
It’s got to be the jogging.
Think of it this way. Thirty years ago all these people would have been in wheel chairs and in nursing homes. So the ability to replace joints has incredible benefits.
ahh, perfect word! so much beettr than flailing 😉 I was using (with my guy friends) the term dickstracted’ . as in, OmG, turn of the damn porn already, you’re totally diCkstracted! ;-P