Keeping weight under control can prevent total knee replacement, according to a Monash University study.

A Monash University study found that keeping your weight in check can keep you from needing a total knee replacement.

According to new research, preventing weight gain in early adulthood could cut the number of knee replacements in Australian adults by almost 30% and save the health system $373 million each year.

Preventing weight gain from young adulthood to late middle age to reduce overweight/obesity could significantly lower the financial burden of total knee replacements, according to a Monash University-led study.

The study, which was published in Osteoarthritis and Cartilage, looked at the relationship between body mass index (BMI) trajectories—patterns of weight gain—from early adulthood to late middle age and the likelihood of needing a total knee replacement for osteoarthritis.

Flavia Cicuttini, a senior author and professor at Monash University, is in charge of the Musculoskeletal Epidemiology Unit at the School of Public Health and Preventive Medicine.

Professor Cicuttini says that the results show how important prevention is for improving health and lowering medical costs. Although weight loss is advised for those with osteoarthritis who are overweight or obese, she claimed that this advice was frequently given too little, too late.

She said that preventing weight gain is a simple and effective way to improve the lives of people with osteoarthritis. Focusing on prevention and making small, long-term changes to the balance of energy can have a big effect. By slightly lowering your daily caloric intake, you can prevent 8–12 kg of weight gain over several decades, save money, and avoid surgery. Additionally, this is good for the heart.

For instance, cutting back on your weekly chocolate intake by the equivalent of two pieces or increasing your exercise time by 10 minutes can stop the pernicious half to 0.5-1 kg weight gain that occurs per person each year in Australia. This can enhance lives, save money, and produce measurable health gains.

In order to improve knee joint health, Professor Cicuttini issued a "call to action." She added that it was crucial to convey the idea that it was crucial to prevent further weight gain among people. "Although advice to lose weight is crucial if a person is overweight, most people find it challenging to follow through.

"We counsel patients with knee pain to lose weight all too frequently, only to have them return five years later having put on another 3-5 kg. Because it is simpler to stop weight gain than to lose it, this represents a missed opportunity.

When people first experience any type of knee pain, even niggling knee pain, we need to concentrate on preventing or slowing weight gain. Adults in Australia typically gain between 0.5 and 1 kg per year. The obesity we see is the result of this gradual, steady weight gain.

Data from 24,368 participants in the Melbourne Collaborative Cohort Study was used in the project.

Researchers connected National Joint Replacement Registry records with weight data collected over years. They discovered six different BMI trajectories, ranging from early adulthood (age 18 to 21) to late middle age (about 62 years). These comprised

Group 1: BMI of less than or equal to 19.7%

Group 2: borderline overweight to normal BMI (36.7%)

Group 3: overweight to normal BMI (26.8%)

Group 4: obese to slightly overweight (3.5%)

Normal BMI to class 1 obesity (5.1%) in group 5

Overweight to class 2 obesity in group 6 (3.2%).

1,328 (5.4%) of the subjects underwent a total knee replacement over a 12.4-year period. Every group where someone advanced into a higher weight group saw an increase in the likelihood of needing one.

With an average weight loss of 8 to 12 kg from early adulthood to late middle age, 28.4% of knee replacements could be avoided overall. This could result in $373 million in annual health-care savings.

According to Professor Cicuttini, assuming that we can "fix" obesity after it has already developed is not very effective, and that prevention has numerous health and financial advantages.

Why don't we try something different if a strategy doesn't work? she wondered. "It will have many health advantages, including reducing the need for a knee replacement in the future, if adults are encouraged to think about stopping the slow creep in weight from a young age."

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