Study Finds Knee and Hip Replacement Lower Risks for Heart Attacks and Strokes 2013

11/15/2013

http://www.arthritistoday.org/news/joint-replacement-and-heart-benefits-314.php

People who undergo total hip or knee replacement appear to have reduced risks of heart attack, stroke and other cardiovascular events according to a study published online recently in the journal BMJ…

For the study, researchers in Ontario, Canada, looked at adults with moderate to severe hip or knee osteoarthritis. They matched 153 patients who went on to receive a joint replacement with 153 who did not, pairing people who had similar health profiles in terms of age, weight, smoking status, arthritis severity, etc. Then they looked at the rate of serious cardiac events, including heart attack, heart failure and stroke, in both groups over a period of seven years…

…The findings “pass the whiff test,” says Trevor Murray, MD, an orthopaedic surgeon at Cleveland Clinic in Cleveland, Ohio. He says hip and knee replacements significantly reduce pain in people with moderate to severe arthritis –  and that reduction in pain helps patients return to a more active, heart-healthy lifestyle. Dr. Murray was not involved in the study.