Stories related to Orthopedics
Avoiding Osteoporosis
Women - and men - can fend off bone-thinning osteoporosis by being aggressive about eating well, taking calcium and vitamin D supplements, and doing regular weight-bearing exercise, says Dr. Alan Gibstein, an expert on women's issues.
"Since all women lose calcium after age 30, they need to do everything they can to keep what they have. Men, too," says Gibstein, who is an assistant professor of obstetrics and gynecology at the New York University College of Medicine and a teacher at the Long Island Jewish North Shore Health Care System. The stereotype is that osteoporosis is a disease of older women. But the reality is that the disorder is a significant threat to more than 2 million American men. (Read
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One-Sixth of Knee Cartilage Treatments Need Redoing
More than one in six patients who receive an implant of their own tissue to repair knee cartilage damage must undergo repeat surgery, a recent study found.
Doctors conduct the well-established surgical procedure, known as autologous chondrocyte implantation (ACI), by removing cartilage cells from the patient, growing them in the lab and then grafting the new tissue into the patient's injured knee. (Read
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Synthetic Bone May Assist Implant Surgery
British scientists have created a dissolvable ceramic bone substitute that, through a technique for building automobile catalytic converters, can be made highly porous so that natural bone cells can infiltrate it and use it as scaffolding for regrowing actual bone.
The new material, which is expected to be especially helpful to patients facing bone-implant surgery, was developed at the University of Warwick by Kajal Mallick, assisted by postgraduate researcher James Meredith. (Read
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Biological Materials Seen Ousting Joint Replacements
Joint replacements are a major dimension of the orthopedics specialty, but they may be replaced in about 15 years by biological products that stimulate tissue and bone growth, according to a leading prognosticator.
"We will be a little in the 'Star Trek' era, potentially," said Paul Olson, director of Viscogliosi Bros. LLC, a New York investment bank that specializes in orthopedics investment. He spoke recently at an orthopedic design and technology conference. (Read
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Saving Bone Cancer Patients' Limbs
Bone cancer is rare, but up till recently if it was diagnosed in a limb, it almost certainly meant an amputation.
But that has changed with the advent of internal prosthetics that can replace the diseased bone. Surgeons can now reconstruct a bone with prosthetics if a malignancy is not wrapped around blood vessels.
Dr. James Wittig of New York City's Mt. Sinai Medical Center says that, these days, 95 percent of patients with bone sarcomas, which comprise less than 1 percent of all cancers, can have their limbs saved. But some bone cancer sufferers may still be having amputations due to ignorance of the technology. (Read
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Technique Aids Joint Replacements
A computer-aided bone-implant technique is coming on line that will increase the accuracy of implant insertions and decrease operating room time for hip, shoulder, knee and ankle replacements - especially for younger patients.
The novel technology relies on software newly developed by the Human Mobility Research Center in Kingston, Ontario. It also depends on computed tomography (CT) scans of a patient's damaged joint. The software creates an exact, patient-specific, 3-D image of the joint and nearby bones, which can then be turned into a plastic model. This, in turn, is used for precise alignment and placement of the metal implants needed to redo the patient's joint with - in the case of hip surgery - so-called hip resurfacing arthroplasty. (Read
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How to Save Your Knees From Arthroscopic Surgery
If you have osteoarthritis of the knees, with all of the pain and loss of flexibility that entails, chances are your doctor has recommended arthroscopic surgery. This is a procedure in which the surgeon inserts a scope into the knee and cleans out bits of loose bone and smoothes rough cartilage.
But there are ways to avoid this invasive, expensive surgery and actually alleviate the arthritis. (Read
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Cutting-Edge Knee-Replacement Gadgets
Medicine is ever advancing - and that includes orthopedic medicine, which has now developed gender-specific artificial knees that match the subtle anatomical differences between men and women. Technicians have also produced a computer program to assist orthopedic surgeons in correctly positioning replacement knees.
These two elements - gender-specificity and computer-navigated surgery - are being hotly discussed these days whenever orthopedic surgeons come together in professional gatherings. (Read
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As Goes Oral Health, So Goes General Health
Many studies are showing a persistent connection between gum disease and other ailments that afflict corners of the body far afield from the teeth.
Specifically, when gingivitis (early-stage gum disease) or full-blown periodontal disease is present, it's often the case that doctors find that a patient has diabetes, kidney disorders, preterm labor, certain types of cancer, osteoporosis or even Alzheimer's disease. (Read
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Chiropractic Technique Reduces Blood Pressure
A particular chiropractic adjustment has been shown to significantly improve high blood pressure, according to recent research.
"This procedure has the effect of not one, but two blood-pressure medications given in combination," said study leader George Bakris, a medical doctor who is director of the University of Chicago hypertension center. "And it seems to be adverse-event free. We saw no side effects and no problems." (Read
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