The Best Alternative to Knee Replacement for Osteoarthritis

The AHA! Team — Mon, 28 Apr 2025 05:49:10 +0000

Michael Greger M.D. FACLM via Nutrition Facts – Is there a non-surgical alternative to knee replacement surgery that treats the cause and offers only beneficial side effects? The health effects of being overweight The largest study in history on the health effects of being overweight, analyzing data from more than 50 million people from nearly 200 countries, found that excess body weight accounts for the premature deaths of about four million people every year. Most of these deaths are from heart disease, but the researchers “found convincing or probable evidence” linking obesity to 20 different disorders—a veritable alphabet soup of potential health concerns. In the ABCs of the health consequences of obesity, A is for arthritis. Obesity can make rheumatoid arthritis worse and increase the risk of another inflammatory joint disease—gout, the so-called disease of kings. The most common joint disease in the world, though, is osteoarthritis, and obesity may be its “main modifiable risk factor.” Osteoarthritis develops when the cartilage that lines and cushions our joints breaks down faster than our body can build it back up. Our knee is the most commonly affected joint, leading to the assumption that the association with obesity was simply due to the excess wear and tear from the added load on the joints. But non-weight-bearing joints, like our hands and wrists, can also be affected, suggesting the link isn’t “purely mechanical.” Obesity-related dyslipidemia may play a role, with elevations in the amounts of triglycerides, fat, and cholesterol in the blood aggravating inflammation in the joints, just like cholesterol can exacerbate the inflammation in our artery walls. Osteoarthritis sufferers Osteoarthritis sufferers not only have higher cholesterol levels in the blood, but they also have them within their joints, as you can see below and at 1:52 in my video The Best Knee Replacement Alternative for Osteoarthritis Treatment, in aspirated joint fluid and also found in the cartilage itself. When cholesterol is dripped onto human cartilage in a petri dish, the inflammatory degeneration worsens, which helps explain why the higher our cholesterol, the worse our disease, as shown below and at 2:05. Cholesterol-lowering statin drugs Cholesterol-lowering statin drugs may help prevent and also treat osteoarthritis, as can a cholesterol-lowering diet. In fact, a healthy enough plant-based diet may offer the best of both worlds, dropping cholesterol as much as a starting dose of a statin drug—within a single week—and having only good side effects, such as lowering blood pressure and facilitating weight loss. Decrease the odds of developing osteoarthritis by more than 50 percent Even losing only about a pound a year for a decade may decrease the odds of developing osteoarthritis by more than 50 percent. Weight reduction may even obviate the need for knee replacement surgery. Osteoarthritis sufferers with obesity who were randomized to lose weight improved their knee function as much as those undergoing surgery—and did so within just eight weeks. The researchers concluded that losing 20 pounds of fat “might be regarded as an alternative to knee replacement.” Isn’t it easier to get your knees replaced than lose 20 pounds, though? Rarely discussed is the fact that nearly 1 in 200 knee replacement patients lose their lives within 90 days of surgery. Given the extreme popularity of this surgery—about 700,000 are performed each year in the United States—an orthopedics journal editor suggested that “people considering this operation are inadequately attuned to the possibility that it may kill them.” Arguably, that’s the single most salient fact to share with a patient who is considering the operation. Responding to the question of whether patients should be told about the chance the operation may kill them, an orthopedic surgeon said: “To me, the real question is whether this knowledge will help the patient. Will it add to the anxiety of the already anxious patient, perhaps to the point of denying that patient a helpful operation? Or will this knowledge motivate a less-handicapped patient to stick to a diet and physical activity regime? Ultimately, then, the question boils down to the surgeon’s judgment.” One in five knee replacement patients describe being unsatisfied with the outcome Even among the vast majority who survive the surgery, approximately one in five knee replacement patients describe being unsatisfied with the outcome. Weight loss with a healthy diet, on the other hand, may offer a nonsurgical alternative that treats the cause and has only beneficial side effects. I continue the alphabet of obesity with the next few videos in the related posts below. You may be interested in my book on weight loss, How Not to Diet, and its companion, The How Not to Diet Cookbook, which is full of health-promoting, Green-Light recipes. Request them from your local library. For more on joint health, visit the topic page. Key Takeaways Weight loss through a healthy, plant-based diet may be a nonsurgical alternative to knee replacement surgery, with only beneficial side effects, such as lowered cholesterol, reduced inflammation, and improved joint function. Obesity is a significant modifiable risk factor for osteoarthritis, with both mechanical strain on joints and obesity-related inflammation contributing to disease progression. Elevated cholesterol levels may worsen osteoarthritis by aggravating inflammation in the joints, making cholesterol management important in treating the disease. A plant-based diet may help prevent or treat osteoarthritis by reducing cholesterol levels, which can decrease joint inflammation. Knee replacement surgery carries risks, including a small but significant mortality rate (1 in 200 within 90 days), and one in five patients are unsatisfied with the outcome. Weight loss may provide similar benefits without these risks. To read the original article click here.

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WARNING to “Healthy Weight” Individuals: Fatty Liver Health Problems Could Be Brewing Inside

AHA Publisher — Thu, 10 Sep 2020 07:00:03 +0000

Joy Jensen via NaturalHealth365 – Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) has become an epidemic in the U.S. – with over 100 million people being affected by this disease. To make matters even worse, most people have no idea it’s happening to them. To be clear: poor liver function has the potential to progress to more serious health issues like, chronic liver inflammation, scarring and cancer. In the past, experts simply believed that NAFLD affected primarily overweight individuals. And, while that’s true that obesity is connected to a fatty liver – there is a much bigger problem (no pun intended) for those walking around with a “healthy” body weight. In fact, new research reveals that even those who are not overweight can be affected by a fatty liver and researchers uncovered evidence that NAFLD presents itself in different ways based upon both body mass index (BMI) and gender. SHOCKING Truth About “Non-Obese Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver Disease” Conventionally-speaking, NAFLD is commonly associated with high cholesterol, type 2 diabetes, and excess body weight. No doubt, we’ve seen this disease explode in numbers – within the U.S. – as a direct proportion to the obesity epidemic. However, it’s recently become more common in Asia despite the fact that those living in that area of the world tend to notbe obese compared to the population in Europe and the United States. So, you can imagine the surprise of researchers when they discovered “non-obese NAFLD.” To make matters even more shocking: researchers discovered that non-obese NAFLD has a higher mortality ratethan that of obese NAFLD. Normally, increased visceral fat and reduced skeletal mass present as strong risk factors for the development of fatty liver in patients with obesity. However, for non-obese NAFLD, researchers didn’t have this type of insight and started looking at both non-obese and obese patients. They discovered that a quarter of the both males and females had non-obese fatty liver disease. Researchers were surprised to find that these individuals had lower muscle strength and skeletal muscle mass than patients with NAFLD who also were diagnosed with obesity. Belly fat was low in these patients, and the study found only a modest increase in insulin resistance and liver fatty accumulation. Researchers commented that these results show that there are key differences in how fatty liver disease presents itself in men and women who aren’t obese. And it’s a reminder that even individuals without obesity are at risk for fatty liver disease. Want to AVOID COVID-Related Complications? Read this Very Carefully Recently, studies found that patients with fatty liver disease had a great risk of hospitalization with COVID-19 due to COVID-related complications. With this new study on non-obese NAFLD, we now know that even more people are likely at risk for this increased risk of coronavirus complications. Bottom line: we need to have a greater appreciation (and respect) for healthy liver function. Simply put, a healthy liver is crucial for us to enjoy a healthy life. Liver function literally affects every organ and system of the body from hormone production, blood sugar regulation and the removal of harmful toxins from the body. If your liver struggles, so will you. Find out how poor liver function can increase the risk of autoimmune disorders, cancer, diabetes, heart disease plus much more! Click to to sign up now for the Fatty Liver Docu-Class created by Jonathan Landsman. This event starts Oct. 6, 2020. Don’t miss it … Register Today! Sources for this article include: Eurekalert.org, NaturalHealth365.com To read the original article click here. For more articles from NaturalHealth365 click here.

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The Best Alternative to Knee Replacement for Osteoarthritis

WARNING to “Healthy Weight” Individuals: Fatty Liver Health Problems Could Be Brewing Inside