A 55-year-old Afgan woman, weighing 135 kg and suffering from obesity-induced early arthritis that damaged her knees completely, is back on her feet again after undergoing a total knee replacement procedure at a city hospital.
According to the doctors, arthritis had completely da-maged both her knees, res-tricting her completely to bed and putting her at se-vere risk of other obesity-related morbidities. The to-tal knee replacement procedure was performed by senior consultant, orthopaed-ics and joint replacement surgeon, Apollo Hospital, Dr Rajeev K. Sharma.
Doctors said that at 135 kg, Aaseya (name changed), from Afghanistan, was not only under severe threat of obesity-induced diseases such as diabetes, hypertension and heart disease, but her excess weight had also completely damaged her knees, restricting her to a bed for several years.
“The problem of excessive weight creates a dangerous cycle. While excessive weight damages knee joints and makes walking and exercise difficult; lack of physical movement in turn further causes increa-se in weight and augments arthritic conditions. This patient was so heavy for several years that her knees suffered early wear and tear which progressed into severe damage with time. She could hardly walk without support. Ultimately, she was restricted to bed completely. Her condition necessitated a total knee arthoplasty immediately,” said Dr Sharma.
Doctors in her home country repeatedly advised her that she urgently needed to reduce weight and start physical exercise if she wanted to live a healthy and productive life. However, with her knees failing to support her body weight, and inability to walk or make any substantial movement further aggravated her health condition and co-morbidities.
“Knee replacement procedures are more difficult and more time consuming in people who are overweight as they have excess fatty tissue surrounding the joints. In this case, though the woman was relatively younger at 55 as compared to other joint replacement patients, the damage sustained by her knees due to weight resembled that of a 70-year-old woman,” added Dr Sharma.
Doctors claimed that patients was needed an immediate procedure to enable the patient to walk again and lead an independent life which would automatically have other health advantages. Once back on her feet, she can lead an active lifestyle, and adopt regular exercise to reduce weight.
