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Posted on Apr 15, 2008, 8 p.m.
By Jeanelle Topping
Arthritis has become a growing health concern in the US, with more than 20 million men and women affected by the increasingly common joint disease.
Arthritis has become a growing health concern in the US, with more than 20 million men and women affected by the increasingly common joint disease.
Fortunately for America's aging Baby Boomer generation, surgical joint replacements of hips and knees have helped revolutionize the treatment of pain and disability resulting from arthritis.
Dr Sunny Kim, a researcher with the Robert Stempel School of Public Health at Florida International University, discovered that in 2004 the number of joint replacement surgeries among middle-aged patients between 45 and 64 increased excessively - 71 per cent for hip replacements and 83 per cent for knee replacements.
She predicted that if current trends persist, almost 600,000 hip replacements and 1.4 million knee replacements can be expected to be performed in 2015.
Commenting on the findings, Dr Kim said: "Public health education is critically important to reduce the proportion of people who are overweight as well as to manage arthritis at earlier stages."
