Weight gain is such a complicated issue that it seems like every aspect of your wellbeing is associated it, and a new study is no different. According to researchers, who recently published their study online in the journal Arthritis Care & Research, weight gain is considered more likely for you if you’ve had knee-replacement surgery.
For the study, the team of researchers looked at nearly 1000 medical records of knee replacement patients. They discovered that 1/3 of the patients suffered the wellness damage of a 5% or higher gain in body weight in the five years after surgery. Of the people who didn’t undergo knee replacement, a lesser 20% gained the same amount of weight over that time, according to the study.
According to lead author Daniel Riddle, a professor in the physical therapy department at Virginia Commonwealth University, ‘Part of the explanation is that people may have spent years adapting to their circumstances by avoiding activities that could cause knee pain’.
However, the researchers did also discover that patients who were encouraged to lose weight before their knee-replacement surgery were more at risk of weight gain after the procedure. This was most likely to occur for overweight and obese patients, as it is typical for them to be encouraged to lose weight before undergoing knee replacement, to reduce their risk of complications and speed up their recovery.
‘We need to encourage patients to take advantage of their ability to function better and offer strategies for weight loss or weight management,’ said Riddle, because weight gain after knee-replacement surgery ‘potentially puts patients at risk of developing chronic health conditions, such as cardiovascular disease or diabetes’ he explained in a university news release.
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