I’m Bob Doughty with the VOA Special English HEALTH
REPORT.
Women who have problems with artificial knee implants may get some help soon.
The United States Food and Drug Administration recently approved a replacement
knee designed especially for women.
About four hundred thousand people in the United States have knee replacement
operations each year. More than sixty percent of them are women.
People who have damaged cartilage in their knees
are good candidates for a replacement operation. Cartilage is a kind of soft
connective tissue. Injuries or disease may cause cartilage loss. When cartilage
is gone in the knee, bones rubbing together may restrict movement and cause
severe pain.
In a replacement operation, doctors remove damaged parts of the thighbone,
the shinbone and the kneecap. They replace the damaged parts with parts made of
metal and plastic.
Studies have shown that a knee implant lasts about fifteen years. Women
report more problems with implants than men do. Problems include pain and
difficulty moving the knee. In some cases, another operation is needed. Experts
believe this is because makers of knee implants are more concerned about size
than shape. A man’s knee is shaped differently than a woman’s. Men usually have
shorter and wider knees. Women’s knees are smaller and narrower.
Makers of the new knee implant say it is shaped to fit a woman’s bone
structure. They say women should experience less pain and recover more quickly.
Currently, complete recovery can last three months or longer. Makers of the new
product say it will also make knee replacement operations easier to carry out.
Zimmer Holdings Incorporated built the new Gender Solutions knee. The company
already makes other replacement knees and hips.
Nine medical experts helped to design the Gender Solutions knee. One of them
is Kim Bertin of L.D.S. Hospital in Utah. He compared existing knee implants to
putting men’s shoes on women’s feet.
Other experts question the effectiveness of the new knee. They believe it is
just a marketing tool to interest women. No studies have shown that the new
implant works better than other products.
Also, Zimmer has competition. Another company, Stryker Orthopedics, says it
makes a knee to fit both men and women.
This VOA Special English HEALTH REPORT was written by Cynthia Kirk. I’m Bob
Doughty.
cartilage : 軟骨
（來源：VOA 英語點(diǎn)津姍姍編輯）
