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Physical Therapy Helps Many Physical therapists who work with patients diagnosed with hip osteoarthritis know that education, manual therapy and therapeutic exercise can provide significant pain relief and improvements in ROM for many of them. However, there hasn't been sufficient research into the factors that can predict which patients will respond and by how much, when attending physical therapy. This is important because hip osteoarthritis is one of the most common causes of chronic pain, and chronic pain has often (too often!) been treated with opioids and NSAIDs, rather than physical therapy. As the healthcare system evaluates "pre-habilitation" "“ physical therapy before surgery in place of opioids "“ knowing who will benefit most would speed the process. Predicting Patient Response...

A recent study from the Queensland University of Technology (QUT) identified a high-fat diet, and specifically, saturated fats as a prime suspect in the onset of osteoarthritis. QUT scientists found that a diet containing 20% saturated fats changed the composition of cartilage in the weight-bearing joints of the hip and knee. The modified cartilage displayed osteoarthritic changes. In addition, the diet resulted in changes to the bone under the cartilage. The team of researchers from QUT and the University of Southern Queensland in Australia, led by professors Yin Xiao and Lindsay Brown, investigated the potential connection between dietary fat and development of osteoarthritis. They looked specifically at the effects of a diet rich in saturated fatty acids and simple carbohydrates...