SAN DIEGO (AP) -- We're becoming a nation of bum knees, worn-out hips and sore shoulders, and it's not just the Medicare set. Baby boomer bones and joints also are taking a pounding, spawning a boom in operations to fix them.
Knee replacement surgeries have doubled over the last decade and more than tripled in the 45-to-64 age group, new research shows. Hips are trending that way, too.
And here's a surprise: It's not all due to obesity. Ironically, trying to stay fit and avoid extra pounds is taking a toll on a generation that expects bad joints can be swapped out like old tires on a car.
"Boomeritis" or "fix-me-itis" is what Dr. Nicholas DiNubile, a suburban Philadelphia surgeon, calls it.
"It's this mindset of `fix me at any cost, turn back the clock,'" said DiNubile, an adviser to several pro athletic groups and a spokesman for the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons. "The boomers are the first generation trying to stay active in droves on an aging frame" and are less willing to use a cane or put up with pain or stiffness as their grandparents did, he said.
Too agressive at the gym. Want to stay fit, so they wear themselves out.
ReplyDeleteSo old people have more problems with their joints? Who would have thought?
ReplyDeleteJust another reason to invest in companies that are heavy into medical devices like abt and jnj(along with a host of others). The fact is, what was thought to be elective surgery a decade ago, is now(in most peoples opinions) a necessary surgery for quality of life reasons.
ReplyDelete