Absent a car accident, sports injury or other acute serious trauma, most people who undergo elective hip replacement surgery are older individuals who have dealt with years of osteoarthritis pain. While the average age has fallen slightly, most patients deal with arthritis pain until they can no longer get around,…
Xarelto is an anticoagulant medication manufactured by Bayer AG, the German pharmaceutical giant, and Janssen, a subsidiary of Johnson & Johnson, markets it in the United States. Xarelto is one of three relatively new forms of medication marketed to treat patients who suffer from a condition known as atrial fibrillation…
Those who work as professional horse jockey in the world of thoroughbred racing say it takes a lot of skill, hard work and dedication. There are also many health risks involved, which go far beyond injuries from falling off a horse during a race. Many of the jockeys are forced…
Transvaginal mesh implants were designed to treat painful and uncomfortable conditions in women, such as pelvic organ prolapse (POP) and stress urinary incontinence. Essentially, if a woman suffered from an inability to hold back the flow of urine or pain in the vaginal walls, doctors would surgically implant one of…
While Bayer AG, the German pharmaceutical giant, has seen a recent increase in quarter-over-quarter profits, sales numbers for their bestselling drug, Xarelto, have actually dropped this past quarter for the first time since the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved it for market. Xarelto is a member of…
This time of year, there are a lot of sports to choose from on television. With the NBA and NHL playoffs in full swing, NASCAR racing and a still new Major League Baseball season underway, many are heading to sports bars, which have enough screens to watch them all at…
Xarelto, like Eliquis and Pradaxa, are members of a class of drugs known as New Oral Anticoagulants (NOACs). While, technically, they are not a blood thinner like Coumadin (Warfarin), as they are closer to a class of medications known as statins, their respective makers hope they will go head-to-head with…
While total knee replacement surgery is primarily done in older patients who have suffered years of arthritis, there is another group of patients who might be in need of an artificial knee joint. This group consists of younger athletes and those who may not even be athletes, but frequently engage…
Boston’s PBS affiliate, WGBH, recently featured a program showing what it is like to be in the operating room during a minimally invasive total hip replacement surgery. Traditional methods involved making a 12-inch incision along the side of a patient’s hip and dislocating the hip joint from the pelvis. This…
Many doctors tell overweight patients suffering from knee problems that being obese is a major contributing factor to their joint damage. This is the same information that doctors have been telling their patients for decades and should come as a surprise to nobody. However, many patients are already dealing with…