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Stronger quadriceps muscles, relative to the hamstrings, may lower the risk of total knee replacement, according to research. Researchers said the findings could inform strength-training programs for people with advanced arthritis in the knee. "The two muscle groups act as counter forces, and the balance between them enables a wide range of activities while protecting the knee joint," said Upasana Upadhyay Bharadwaj, M.D. "An imbalance, in addition to other factors, leads to a change in the biomechanics resulting in the progression of osteoarthritis." Dr. Upadhyay Bharadwaj and colleagues evaluated thigh muscle volume in 134 participants from the Osteoarthritis Initiative. They...

Two studies comparing injections commonly used to relieve the pain of knee osteoarthritis found that corticosteroid injections were associated with the progression of the disease. Osteoarthritis is the most common form of arthritis, affecting 32.5 million adults in the U.S. Knee osteoarthritis is a chronic, degenerative and progressive condition with an estimated incidence of 800,000 patients each year. More than 10% of patients with knee osteoarthritis seek noninvasive treatment for pain relief through corticosteroid or hyaluronic acid injections. In the first study, MRI was performed on all patients at the time of the injection and two years before and after....

A hydrogel-based implant could replace worn-out cartilage and alleviate knee pain without replacing the entire joint. Credit: Benjamin Wiley, Duke University. Over-the-counter pain relievers, physical therapy, steroid injections—some people have tried it all and are still dealing with knee pain. Often knee pain comes from the progressive wear and tear of cartilage known as osteoarthritis, which affects nearly one in six adults—867 million people—worldwide. For those who want to avoid replacing the entire knee joint, there may soon be another option that could help patients get back on their feet fast, pain-free, and stay that way. Writing in the journal...

Osteoarthritis is a wear-and-tear disorder marked by bone thickening and cartilage degeneration, an excruciatingly painful disability and a major cause of impaired mobility as people age. But scientists have begun viewing this form of arthritis differently with a deeper understanding of the disorder's causes and an eye toward personalized medicine as a treatment option. Although for decades medical experts have focused on problems such as the pain caused by bone thickening and the disappearance of cartilage, scientists say bone malalignment may play a critical role in osteoarthritis. In a novel clinical study, medical scientists demonstrate how the alignment problem can...

WASHINGTON (AP) — Vice President Kamala Harris will receive a COVID-19 booster shot on Saturday, the White House announced, as it encourages eligible Americans to follow suit. The White House says Harris, 57, qualifies for a booster because she frequently travels for work and interacts with a range of people as part of her duties.

President Biden and first lady Jill Biden on Saturday participated at the 9/11 ceremony in Shanksville, Pennsylvania, commemorating the 20th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks. Today he looked lost again and hardly able to walk as he approached the site of the crash of flight 93. Then for some weird reason, Biden gets down on a knee. Video: (video uploaded on the site0 President Joe Biden commemorated the 20th anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks on the United States on Saturday with visits to each of the sites where hijacked planes crashed in 2001, honoring the victims of the devastating...

78-year-old Joe Biden fell several times while boarding Air Force One on Friday. Biden tried jogging up the stairs to board Air Force One and fell hard on his knee.

Published 2 years ago on February 22, 2018 By Alanna Ketler CE Staff Writer The invention of the chair was really a total game changer in regards to how our bodies function and which parts of the body we are using on a regular basis. The chair took all of that pressure off of our rears and backs, and relieved some of our weight for us. Of course, we always had the option to sit on the ground or perhaps in a tree, but the chair became such a fundamental piece of furniture in our lives that it absolutely changed...

SEATTLE — Only 10 active Houston Texans players stood for the national anthem with the rest of the team kneeling down. The Texans had indicated there would be some type of protest following comments by owner Bob McNair. McNair has issued two apologies and is attempting to explain his comments after a story in ESPN The Magazine this week revealed that he said "we can't have the inmates running the prison" during a meeting of NFL owners about players who protest by kneeling during the national anthem. There were reports the Texans would consider staying in the locker room for...

Donald Trump struck back at 2012 GOP presidential nominee Mitt Romney Thursday, blasting the former Massachusetts governor for "begging" for his endorsement four years ago only to sharply criticize him now. "I don't know what happened to him," Trump said during a rally in Portland, Maine. "You can see how loyal he is. He was begging for my endorsement. I could have said, 'Mitt, drop to your knees.' He would have dropped to his knees." "Mitt is indeed a choke artist," Trump said. "He choked like I've never seen anyone choke. Other than Rubio." Trump also said that his net...

Two knee surgeons at University Hospitals Leuven have discovered a previously unknown ligament in the human knee. This ligament appears to play an important role in patients with anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) tears. Despite a successful ACL repair surgery and rehabilitation, some patients with ACL-repaired knees continue to experience so-called 'pivot shift', or episodes where the knee 'gives way' during activity. For the last four years, orthopedic surgeons Dr Steven Claes and Professor Dr Johan Bellemans have been conducting research into serious ACL injuries in an effort to find out why. Their starting point: an 1879 article by a French...

Going back to the aspirin belief, if you are determined to use it as a form of birth control, I will leave you with the following suggestion: the only way that an aspirin can prevent pregnancy is for a woman to carefully place it between her knees and HOLD it there (by keeping her knees and therefore her legs) closed. ☺

Link only - Leaping Cockroach Gets Around on Spring-Loaded Knees

Greater stresses on joints than running barefoot or walking in high-heeled shoes observedNew York, NY, January 4, 2010 – Knee osteoarthritis (OA) accounts for more disability in the elderly than any other disease. Running, although it has proven cardiovascular and other health benefits, can increase stresses on the joints of the leg. In a study published in the December 2009 issue of PM&R: The journal of injury, function and rehabilitation, researchers compared the effects on knee, hip and ankle joint motions of running barefoot versus running in modern running shoes. They concluded that running shoes exerted more stress on these...

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - People who want to live a long and healthy life might want to take up running. A study published on Monday shows middle-aged members of a runner's club were half as likely to die over a 20-year period as people who did not run. Running reduced the risk not only of heart disease, but of cancer and neurological diseases such as Alzheimer's, researchers at Stanford University in California found. "At 19 years, 15 percent of runners had died compared with 34 percent of controls," Dr. Eliza Chakravarty and colleagues wrote in the Archives of Internal Medicine. Any...

WATERFORD -- Waterford High School's principal reportedly disciplined two freshmen for fighting by having them get on their hands and knees, look at each other through a chair, apologize to each other and promise their behavior would end. It worked, according to one of the boys who made the pledge after the altercation last week. It also made his mother furious. Penny Watson said she was shocked when her son told her of the punishment. "I can understand having them stand up like men, apologize and shake hands," she said. "I'm past confusion. Now I'm angry."

Scientists have used stem cells to repair arthritis damage in mice.They tweaked the stem cells’ genes to pump up production of a bone-building protein called BMP-4. When mice with knee injuries got those stem cells, their knees healed better than other mice with the same injuries.  The finding comes from doctors including Ryosuke Kuroda, MD, PhD, of Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh and the University of Pittsburgh.  The experiment, described in Arthritis & Rheumatism, only included mice, not people. Joint damage is a hallmark of arthritis, and scientists don’t have a way to make arthritis-damaged joints as good as new.Healing an...

INDIANAPOLIS -- A study is checking whether an injection of adult stem cells can re-grow the spongy tissue between people's shinbones and their thighbones.  The injection would be for people who have surgery to remove torn parts of a meniscus. The surgery can lead to trouble in the future if arthritis sets in where the tissue is missing. Doctors hope that a stem-cell injection after such a surgery can re-grow meniscal tissue so future problems can be avoided. In animal studies, the shot led to tissue regeneration in 11 weeks. If it works in humans, it could change the way...

I'm interested in hearing the experiences of any Freepers that have had knee replacement surgery.

Can a dietary supplement pick up the pieces? Glucosamine, often recommended for joint pain, is one of the most popular supplements on the market. And considering the health concerns recently associated with nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory medications, I thought it would be worth looking into whether glucosamine lives up to the hype.Background: Glucosamine and chondroitin are often combined together and used to treat osteoarthritis (OA), which occurs when the cartilage covering the end of the bone near the joint breaks down. OA affects the knees, backs, hips, hands and feet of more than 21 million people over age 45. And, according to...