Several study confirmed the positive effects of physical activity on the rate of falls. Increased physical activity may even potentially reduce the risk of fracture which may lead to the development of arthritis. Arthritis may cause surgical procedures like metal-on-metal hip replacement which has alarmed several patients being defective but the British Medical Journal (BMJ) study finds no link between metal hips and cancer.
But anti-fracture efficacy has not been consistently documented. In a prospective cohort study of 9704 women 65 years of age, high-level physical activity reduced the risk of hip fracture.
Arthritis is defined by free online dictionary as an inflammation of a joint which usually goes along with pain, swelling, and stiffness, and may result from an infection, trauma, degenerative change, metabolic disturbance, or any other cause. It transpires in various forms, such as bacterial arthritis, osteoarthritis, or rheumatoid arthritis.
The risk of hip fracture was reduced among women who performed moderate-to-vigorous activities, but no effect was observed on wrist or vertebral fractures. A multidisciplinary program tested a comprehensive combination of general and resident-specific tailored strategies to reduce falls in persons over the age of 65 living in residential-care facilities. The interventions included individual exercise programs in conjunction with staff education, environmental modification, mobility aids, medication review, hip protectors, and problem solving conferences after falls. Both falls and fall-related injuries were reduced. Similar and positive findings were observed in a pooled analysis from studies including a total of 566 community dwelling women at least 80 years old who participated in the same program of progressive muscle strengthening, balance retraining, and walking. This intervention reduced the number of women who fell over a 1-year period by some 20 percent. The number of injurious falls was also reduced, by 33 percent.
Body sway is a well-documented risk factor for falls and fall-related fractures. Proprioceptive dynamic posture training minimizes body sway, as well as decreases kyphosis by strengthening the back extensors, and thus, reduces pain and increases mobility. In a controlled trial, proprioceptive dynamic posture training improved balance in osteoporotic patients with kyphosis and reduced the risk of falls.
These findings contrast with those from a systematic review of randomized trials testing whether physical exercise or physical therapy could prevent falls in elderly people. Pooled data showed no significant differences between intervention and control groups in the number of persons who fell. One of the studies even reported that brisk walking significantly increased falls which is usually at risk of fractures that may possibly develop into arthritis that causes patients to undergo surgery such as hip replacement like DePuy Pinacle.
REFERENCES
http://www.thefreedictionary.com/arthritis
http://www.medterms.com/script/main/art.asp?articlekey=2337
04/11/2012
03/14/2012
Arthritis Spurred Metal-On-metal Hip Replacement
Study shows that archeologists have found evident cases of arthritis on the first human’s skeleton and is being considered as a prehistoric disease, according to the home made medicine website. Arthritis is a disease which may cause hip joint damage that ends up with a metal-on-metal hip replacement surgery, but due to an upsurge in number of defective implantations, "the British Hip Society stops recommending it".
Arthritis is a disease which causes inflammation of one or more joints. Modern medicine, however, has not yet discovered the likely causes for its effect on more than 100 million people around the world, homemade medicine website reports.
Furthermore, arthritis causes joints to swell that inflict the patients to suffer from excruciating pain, deformity on the affected areas, stiff and eventually loss range of motion in the joints and unbearable pain which leads patients to rely on surgery to relieve oneself from the pain.
However, that did not become the case because metal-on-metal hip implants are more likely to fail than devices made from other materials. These implants were highly recommended to be banned in the UK market after researchers reviewed the world’s largest database on hip replacements, Bloomberg said.
The metal-on-metal hip replacement surgery better known as total hip arthroplasty involves removing a diseased hip joint and replacing it with an artificial joint called prosthesis. It guarantees patients to be relieved from pain and likely restore range of motion and function to a person's hip joints, Mayoclinic website says.
The database shows that there are more than 500,000 patients in the U.S. and 40,000 in the U.K. who have metal-on-metal hips and are at higher risk of device failure, according to the analysis, which was published recently in The Lancet. Failure rates were as much as four times higher in women, who are more likely to have implants containing a larger prosthetic femoral head, according to Bloomberg.
The lead researcher Ashly Blom from the University of Bristol says that the use of larger metal implants became popular because it was thought that they reduced the likelihood of dislocation and were highly resistant to wear.
Companies that manufacture the alleged defective devices were from Johnson & Johnson, Zimmer Holdings Inc. (ZMH) and Smith & Nephew Plc. (SN), Bloomberg says.
Metal-on-metal implants failed much more quickly than those with other surfaces. Overall, 6.2 percent of patients need a second operation in five years. The larger the hip, the earlier they failed -- each 1-millimeter increase in femoral head diameter corresponded to a 2 percent increase in the risk of failure. Larger ceramic-on-ceramic implants fared better in the analysis, the researchers said.
“Metal-on-metal stemmed articulations give poor implant survival compared with other options and should not be implanted,” Blom and his colleagues wrote. “All patients with these bearings should be carefully monitored, particularly young women implanted with large diameter heads.”
In the United States, the group of surgeons has not yet made a move similar to those done by the UK surgeons despite the alarming growth of defective implants and filing of Depuy pinnacle lawsuit.
URL REFERENCE:
http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/hip-replacement/MY00235
http://www.homemademedicine.com/home-remedies-arthritis.html
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-03-12/metal-on-metal-hip-implants-should-be-banned-review-says.html
01/24/2012
Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis Is Associated With Autoimmune Diseases
Nearly 300,000 children aged 18 and below in the United States have some form of arthritis, studies show. This medical condition among young children and teenagers is called juvenile idiopathic arthritis, formerly known as juvenile rheumatoid arthritis, the Science Daily says. Unless properly diagnosed and cured, the symptoms may result to hip replacement procedure and compensatory damage litigation arising from failed or defective implants. However, "Tennessee Man Files Pinnacle Hip Replacement Lawsuit".
Juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA) is a chronic inflammatory disease characterized by chronic synovitis. It is sometimes associated with extra-articular manifestations, mainly fever, rash, pericarditis and uveitis. Certain autoimmune diseases, such as thyroid and coeliac disorders, have been previously described, mainly in adult rheumatoid arthritis. Only a few data are available for large series of JIA, according to the rheumatology.oxfordjournals.org website.
This disorder may begin with a swollen knuckle, a spiking fever, or an unexplained rash. But no matter what symptoms appear, hearing the word "arthritis" in a diagnosis for your child can be unexpected and confusing, the kidshealth.org website says.
However, the cause is still not known, and it is not even genetic, although some family members may suffer from other autoimmune disorders. Symptoms may include joint stiffness in the morning that improves later in the day; pain, swelling, and tenderness in the joints; limping or limits in range of motion; high fever and light rash; weight loss; fatigue or irritability; and/or red eyes or blurred vision.
While lab tests and imaging can sometimes help diagnose JIA, a physical examination and thorough patient history are the most valuable tools in identifying this disease, Science Daily reports.
According to a new literature review from the Journal of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons (JAAOS), the rate of false positives in laboratory evaluations and imaging studies meant to screen for juvenile arthritis makes their value limited.
Depending on the type of JIA, these symptoms can vary quite a bit. In fact, some young patients may not suffer any of these symptoms, but have a swollen joint that is discovered after another incident such as an injury.
Marilynn Punaro, a pediatric rheumatologist at Texas Scottish Rite Hospital for Children and University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, says that to establish a diagnosis of juvenile idiopathic arthritis is a matter of pattern recognition, Also, there is no lab test that can conclusively diagnose rheumatic disease.
If JIA is suspected, the orthopaedic surgeon should conduct an assessment of all peripheral joints, not just the joint or joints about which the patient is complaining to avoid any recommendation which may lead to hip implants that received several "DePuy Pinnacle lawsuit".
URL REFERENCES:
http://kidshealth.org/parent/medical/arthritis/jra.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Autoimmune_disease
http://rheumatology.oxfordjournals.org/content/44/4/517.full
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/03/110302131942.htm
01/18/2012
Study Finds Joint Replacement Surgery At Risk Done At Hospitals With Low Surgical Volume
Patients who had undergone elective total hip or total knee replacement at hospitals with small surgical volume are likely to run into venous thromboembolism and may die following the procedure, Science Daily says. Complainants claiming they were impaired by faulty hip replacement implants are being heard in U.S. courts. However, "the judge’s orders pave way for next phase in DePuy Pinnacle MDL hearings".
Venous thromboembolism (VTE) is a disease that includes both deep vein thrombosis (DVT) and pulmonary embolism (PE). It is a common, lethal disorder that affects hospitalized and non-hospitalized patients, recurs frequently, is often overlooked, and results in long-term complications, including chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension (CTPH) and the post-thrombotic syndrome (PTS), according to the Cleveland Clinic website.
Venous thromboembolism results from a amalgamation of hereditary and acquired risk factors, also known as thrombophilia or hypercoagulable states. Furthermore, vessel wall damage, venous stasis, and augmented activation of clotting factors first described by Rudolf Virchow more than a century ago still remain the ultimate basis for our understanding of thrombosis, the Science Daily suggests.
The complications following joint replacement surgery at low-volume sites may be reduced by modifying systems and procedures used before and after surgery, according to the findings published in Arthritis and Rheumatism, a peer-reviewed journal of the American College of Rheumatology (ACR).
The ACR assessed that 27 million Americans over the age of 25 have doctor-diagnosed osteoarthritis and another 1.3 million US adults suffer with rheumatoid arthritis. For patients with end-stage hip and knee arthritis, total hip and knee arthroplasty are highly successful surgical interventions that offer patients significant improvement in pain, function and health-related quality of life. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) National Hospital Discharge Survey, roughly 230,000 total hip replacements and 543,000 total knee replacements were performed in the U.S. in 2007.
The existing study shows the relationship between hospital procedure volume and surgical outcomes following primary total hip or total knee replacements. “With the big number of elective arthroplasty in the U.S, it is significant to understand the influence of pre- and post-operative medical complications on the success of joint replacement surgery," said lead author Jasvinder Singh, a doctor of medicine from the University of Alabama.
Researchers found that for total knee arthroplasty, patients age 65 and older have had significantly higher odds for one-year mortality when surgeries were performed at low-volume hospitals compared to higher volume hospitals.
The authors hypothesis is that the reason of the complications at low-volume hospitals could be allied to hospital procedures and pre- and post-operative care processes. It is best to be extra cautious to circumvent any complications which may lead to the filing of "DePuy Pinnacle lawsuit".
URL REFERENCES:
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/06/110607063630.htm
http://www.clevelandclinicmeded.com/medicalpubs/diseasemanagement/cardiology/venous-thromboembolism/
12/27/2011
Researchers Encourage Parents: Expose Children To Multiple Sports
Young athletes should be encouraged to participate in a variety of different activities and develop a wide range of skills to avoid the increasing number of men and women who run the risk of injuries leading to the development of osteoarthritis, the Science Daily website says. "A new discovery that could lead to better hip replacement" was discovered by engineers and physicians which may result to longer lifespan for patients who had implants.
Osteoarthritis is an inflammation in the joint that results from cartilage degeneration and may be caused by aging, heredity, and injury from trauma or disease, the MedicineNet.com website says.
Top calibre young competitors are under growing pressure to play only one sport year round, but such specialism may cause the risk of injuries, according to a study by the Loyola University Health System. The American Academy of Paediatrics 2000 policy statement encourages young kids to get into various sporting events.
Those who are prone of encountering injuries are the young athletes who are more into intense specialized training in one sport, says Dr. Neeru Jayanthi, medical director of primary sports medicine at the Loyola University Health System and author of the study. He advised the parents to be cautious about the intense specialization before and during adolescence and should consider enrolling their children in multiple sports, the Science Daily says.
Jayanthi shown the results during the May 2 annual assembly of the American Medical Society for Sports Medicine in Salt Lake City, Utah. He said the existing data are still initial researches.
Researchers from Loyola and Children's Memorial Hospital in Chicago are enrolling additional athletes and the athletes will be evaluated every six months for three years. This research will further assess the risk of intense training during growth spurts.
Young athletes must be meticulously watched for injuries, especially if they spend 11 or more hours a week in a single, organized sport or more than 20 hours a week in all sports, Jayanthi said.
The injuries in young athletes include minor conditions such as muscle strains and knee cap pain, overuse injuries such as rotator cuff tendonitis and Osgood-Schlatter Disease and serious injuries such abnormalities in knee cartilage and stress fractures in the spine.
While young athletes are specializing in all major sports, Jayanthi said the most intense specialization occurs in certain higher skill sports such as tennis, gymnastics and dance. If this will not be given attention, most likely these young athletes may develop high risk of osteoarthritis, which causes hip pains that triggers patients to undergo hip implants procedures that has been receiving a lot of "Pinnacle lawsuit".
URL REFERENCE:
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/05/110502121741.htm
http://www.medicinenet.com/osteoarthritis/article.htm
12/12/2011
Four Corners Segment Bares Toxicity In Implants
Higher-than-normal levels of cobalt have been found among the failed implants in Australia, which reportedly had patients prone of being poisoned by toxicity, according to the NBC news website.
The Metal toxicity is being construed as a medical scandal based on the disclosures featured on the Four Corners program, a special presentation for video, extended analysis, and background information of ABC News.
The Four Corners segment aired an investigative report on the hip implants, showing alarming evidence of potential harm, says the NBC News website.
Pathology labs have documented much higher levels of cobalt than previously measured, it adds, raising hints that the presence of metal bits carries with it the potential for toxic effects in the worst-affected patients. The widespread series of toxic effects includes blindness, deafness, seizures, cognitive problems, and heart failure.
The scandal concerning faulty prostheses is also painstaking as the major disaster in the history of orthopaedics. This has played down to hundreds of patients who ran the danger of being poisoned and who had seriously been disabled.
This report may soon cause amendment in the way medical devices are approved for use in Australia. However, theNew York Daily News says that baby boomers are fuelling the need for more knee and hip replacement surgeries.
The South Australian Senator Nick Xenophon will soon demand for a senate inquiry into the approval process for medical devices such as the articular surface replacement (ASR) hip, which did not undergo clinical trials as part of its assessment, according to the Four Corners portion of the ABC News website .
The DePuy Orthopaedics, a subsidiary of the Johnson & Johnson healthcare realm, was mass-produced and promoted the ASR hip.
There have been demands for a probe of the regulation of Australia's $4 billion medical devices industry resulting to the recall of the out of order artificial hips that left hundreds of Australians in excruciating pain.
The Four Corners investigation explores the circumstances leading up to last year's global recall of the DePuy ASR hip joint. Authorities in the United Kingdom and in Australia say that for countless years they had warned DePuy and Johnson & Johnson that the device was dwindling.
DePuy issued a worldwide recall of the hip in replacements in 2010 ever since they freely removing it from Australian market in 2009. Statistic shows that up to 93,000 patients globally got the implants, and about 5,500 of them were Australians.
This year, the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) required all the manufacturers of metal-on-metal hip prostheses to come up with a study of patients who have received their devices.
The request reflected public concerns claiming that the joints may be leeching potentially toxic metal ions and calling for actions to look into the growing number of patients filing DePuy Pinnacle Lawsuit.
URL REFERENCES:
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2011-05-16/patients-reveal-agony-of-toxic-hip-implants/2694656
http://www.orthosupersite.com/view.aspx?rid=83587
http://www.arthritistoday.org/news/asr-depuy-hip-replacement-recall078.php
11/15/2011
Regular Exercise Prevents the Risk of Hip Implants
Having an active lifestyle proves that people nowadays are getting conscious about their well-being. Health problems, including osteoarthritis, can be prevented when more people are engaged into an active lifestyle. Osteoarthritis is described as a joint disease that mostly affects the cartilage. People in such condition often experience joint pains and reduced motion, which may prompt them to getting a hip implant such as Depuy pinnacle hip replacement to relieve their pains.
However, when a patient undergoes a hip implant procedure, it does not assure the patient of a lifetime of relief. Due to the uncertainties in the economy, there are several people who are delaying their hip implants procedure and just living with the hip pains not only because of their fear of the after-surgery effects.
Regular exercise is very vital for successful control of the osteoarthritis, according to the ehealthMD. The gains arising from bodily activities are overall health and wellness or main physical fitness.
Strengthening and stretching comprise the exercises which can help relieve the pain and improve joint movement, making the muscles around the joint more stable and resistant to further damage.
Moreover, there are specific exercises that may be prescribed to improve strength and range of motion in particular joints and muscles. The three types of exercise used to treat osteoarthritis are namely stretching exercise, isometric exercise and aerobic (endurance) exercise.
According to the ehealthMD website, stretching exercise is also called range-of-motion (ROM) exercise. Stretching includes anything that puts a joint through its fullest range of motion. Stretching is often more easily performed if the person takes a pain reliever or applies heat to the joint before starting to exercise.
The isometric exercise is a type of exercise where the muscle are tensed for a period without actually moving them. It can be done without bending a painful joint.
Lastly, the aerobic exercise, including the endurance-building action, improves cardiopulmonary fitness. The ehealthMD website says that most individuals affected with osteoarthritis should consider swimming especially in a heated pool and walking on level ground.
The website states that the milder the exercises the less stressful it is on the joints. Water exercise is especially recommended for those people who have osteoarthritis of the large joints such as hips and knees. What makes it possible to exercise while the body weight is supported is the buoyancy of the water.
The best prevention of undergoing a surgery is for those people diagnosed with possible osteoarthritis to start exercising Because hip implants have higher risk of failures, a patient may consider filing a Pinnacle lawsuit.
URL REFERENCES:
http://www.uptodate.com/contents/patient-information-hip-pain
http://ehealthmd.com/content/what-treatment-available-osteoarthritis
http://www.niams.nih.gov/Health_Info/Osteoarthritis/osteoarthritis_ff.pdf
10/18/2011
Hip Replacement Operation Outlay
The rising costs have led people to struggle with their daily finances nowadays. Moreover, people are also careful about their health. In fact, as medical costs soar higher, more and more "people are postponing their hip replacement surgeries".
Hip replacement surgery is said to have a largely successful outcome and being one of the most common medical procedure, a lot of people are asking why it has to be so costly.
Hip Replacement Costs: A Breakdown
As questions regarding the costs of hip replacement surgery continue to rise, it is important to inform people what is making this kind of procedure to be so costly. If only they are well-informed, people will not be confused and fearful; they would rather understand why they have to pay for such costs.
• Physical Examination
In order to know whether the body is read for a hip replacement operation, a physical test should be considered. Proper procedures can then be done if the results show that the individual is not yet ready for the operation.
• Diagnostic Examinations
This can include aspiration, arthrogram, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), computed tomography (CAT) scan, and bone densitometry test depending upon the known or suspected cause of the pains. Furthermore, if medical advice is needed, the doctors can require further examinations.
• Hospital Costs
How tall or short the costs also depend on the hospital where the operation will be performed. In terms of exploring expenditure levels, pre-surgery counseling or consultation could somehow help, especially on items that may require sizeable amounts of money.
• Medicines
We all know the importance of medicines in every operation, especially the needed painkillers.
• Miscellaneous
In the recovery process, money is understandably needed. Taking into account payment for a caretaker (to look after the home while you were away) and renovating one’s house to suit your current requisite needs to be given due consideration and high importance.
If the patient keeps no back-up insurance, a lot has been reported in media about the need for an average $39, 299 to pay for a hip replacement surgery. This is a lot of money already and that is probably among the reasons why some people file a "Pinnacle Lawsuit". Even if we factor people who have insurance and who got help from Medicaid may have not pay as much, money is still involved.
References:
http://www.costhelper.com/cost/health/hip-replacement.html
http://www.surgery.com/procedure/hip-replacement-surgery/diagnosis-preparation
09/28/2011
On Hip Replacement Surgery
An act of modification for something to improve is what defines revision. In the case of revision surgery, a previous procedure will be revised due to complications or symptoms that hinder the patient’s ability to perform normal functions. Hip replacement surgeries necessary in hip fractures require revision surgery when the artificial joint has been severely damaged due to several factors including wear and tear. More than that, there’s also the issue of infection after the surgery. In line with this, we might be interested to know that a NY based hospital has the lowest infection rate forhip replacement surgeries.
An Overview on Hip Replacement Surgery?
Hip Replacement is performed to get rid of the damaged hip joints and cartilage and be replaced with prosthetic devices like DePuy Pinnacle Hip Replacement device. The procedure typically lasts 2 to 4 hours and the prognosis is generally good. Recovery period in the hospital usually last 3 to 5 days, while it would take around 3 to 6 months for the full recovery given that the patient didn’t have any complications.
When is Revision Surgery Needed?
Doctors perform revision surgery primarily for two reasons: if pain and disability cannot be relieved by medications and other treatment modalities, and if imaging tests show that damage has to be corrected before it’s too late. The hip revision surgery will be necessary if the following will be experienced:
Infection
- Infection in the tissues surrounding the prosthetic device needs immediate medical attention because it can further spread to different sites and may potentially damage the hip bone. The worst thing that may happen is for the patient to develop systemic infection because blood can carry the infectious agents to other body parts.
Fractures
- In America, the top cause of fractures are hip injuries. The majority of those who underwent hip replacement belong to the elderly and incidentally, they are also considered to be the most at risk for fractures.
Loosening of the Artificial Hip Joints
- The hip device is initially tight-fitted into the bone so it will stay in place but overtime, wear and tear will loosen the device and can begin to move into small amounts. This phenomenon causes pain and patient’s range of motion will be limited. Hip implants normally last around 15-20 years but others such those manufactured by DePuy made patients decide to file for a Pinnacle Lawsuit because of allegations that they were premature loosening that took place a couple of years after the operation. This is a rather serious condition as replacement of the device will take more difficulty and not as successful as the initial surgery.
References:
www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/234938.php
www.hopkinsbayview.org/jointeffort/questionsabouthipreplacement.html
www.ehow.com/about_4701691_hip-replacement-surgery.html
09/07/2011
Recovery And Hip Operation
We do all we can in order to get better when we get to experience extreme hip pains simply because it gets in the way of our being able to walk. A lot of troubles can result from walking problems. And of course, there will come a time when these extreme pains can no longer be treated by simple treatments like using pain relievers. Doctors will then advised that a hip operation will be necessary. Related to this issue that causes people to fear hip operations is when a hip replacement resulted to left leg discrepancy. On another note, certain "hip replacement manufacturer facing these issues has released a new product".
We all know that in every operation, recovery is needed and will take time. In this recovery period, we can see how well the operation has become. In one’s recovery period, we can detect if there’s something wrong that happened about the operation. One’s recovery period will be smooth sailing when there’s nothing wrong with the operation. What happens during the recovery period will not be accurate because complications can appear after the maximum period of recovery. Recovery period for hip operation is said to be a maximum of three months. The patient can now take on his/her normal activities after this three months.
It is important to prepare everything in order to ensure that everything goes well according to plan, and also to guarantee that no external forces during the recovery period can be a factor in complications to happen on your post hip operation. The moment the patient goes back home, the house must be a place suitable for his/her condition. Removing anything that can cause accident. With this, as it will never be easy to take care of patients with this kind of condition, the one who will take care of the patient must be very patient.
When complications arise, we can always say that there are just circumstances we do not hold. This true, of course. As for people who have been affected with the DePuy Pinnacle system, this will not be a case and reasons will be pointed as to why they’ve felt pains. Right now, comfort is being provided by filing for a "Pinnacle lawsuit".
Gregory Fraser
Follow through as I unravel the truths about DePuy's Pinnacle Lawsuits
