Cheeky choccies responsible for $370m knee replacement burden: Aus study
Nearly a third of knee replacement surgeries could be avoided if patients shed 8-12kg throughout adulthood, research shows
Cutting-back on as little as two pieces of chocolate per week could save Australia’s health system $373 million a year in foregone knee-replacements, research has found.
According to a Monash University-led study, preventing weight gain from young adulthood to late midlife could reduce the need for knee surgery by almost 30%.
Senior author Professor Flavia Cicuttini, head of rheumatology at the Alfred Hospital in Melbourne, said weight-loss recommendations for patients with a high BMI and osteoarthritis often came too late.
“We need to focus on preventing or slowing weight gain when people first present with any knee pain, even niggling knee pain,” she said.
