Franciscan Focus Winter/Spring 2012 : Page 4

FRANCISCAN PHYSICIANS HOSPITAL-MUNSTER No Bones About It Education and prevention lead to stronger support ust as a foundation is essential to supporting a home, the bones and joints in a person’s body are essential to supporting health and vertical positioning. The bones and joints are a complex member of the body’s operating system. Made of materials both hard and soft, these areas require health factors and precautions be met to ensure their longevity. Two local experts in bone and joint health are Sunil Sunil Dedhia, M.D. Dedhia, M.D., and Nikhil Pandhi, D.O., M.P.H., both orthopedic surgeons with added training in sports medicine at Franciscan Hammond Clinic. Dr. Pandhi’s experience and expertise in joint replacement leads him to promote healthy lifestyles in his patients and the public. Dr. Pandhi notes that joint deterioration, while prevalent in society, isn’t necessarily the effect of one cause or event, but rather is the cumulative effect of the arthritic process, incorporating years of cartilage wear in combination with previous injuries or uneven joint compression. Nikhil Pandhi, D.O., “Many risk factors are involved in the process of M.P.H. arthritic development, including age, overweight or obese body type, sedentary lifestyle, joint injury, and misalignment. There are congenital and genetic factors as well,” says Dr. Pandhi. Dr. Dedhia agrees. “All issues of arthritis, osteoporosis and degenerative bone disease can be seen with time and age. If you start with education and awareness in getting the proper nutrition, at Franciscan Hammond diet, and calcium when you’re an Clinic include: adolescent, you have less chance of Sunil Dedhia, M.D. developing problems later in life.” Donald Kucharzyk, M.D. Time and age are one aspect of John Kung, M.D. damage, but the body’s angle is Neal Labana, M.D. another. “Joints deteriorate over Harry Moffitt, M.D. time due to the way our bodies are Nikhil Pandhi, D.O. aligned,” says Dr. Pandhi. “We refer John Pomponi, D.O. to the angle from the center of the To make an appointment, please hip to the ankle as the mechanical call the Franciscan Hammond Clinic access degree. This degree alone Specialty Center at (219) 836-3600 can determine whether you have or Franciscan Physicians Hospital higher weight loads on one part of at (219) 922-4200. the knee versus the other, which is often times the origin of damage.” J Drop your BMI, drop your chance of damage! Calculate your BMI by doing the following: Convert your weight from lbs. to kilograms: Your weight, divided by 2.2, equals your weight in kilograms. Convert your height from inches to meters: Your height, divided by 39.37, equals your height in meters. Calculate your BMI: Your weight (in kilograms) divided by your height (in meters) equals your BMI. Healthy weight: BMI of 19 to 24.9 Overweight: BMI of 25 to 29.9 Obese: BMI of 30 and above Despite the stereotype of “old age, feeble bones,” Dr. Dedhia notes that a trend has developed to more occurrences of joint issues in the younger population because of athletics and sports injuries. “We’re seeing a lot more degenerative change at younger ages than what was treated 20 years ago.” Reversal of this younger degenerative disease trend is important to prevent early arthritis and bone loss in the young population. Dr. Pandhi notes that benefit is derived from personal education and from efforts to lower one’s Body Mass Index (BMI). According to the Centers for Disease Control, BMI is a number calculated from a person’s weight and height, providing a reliable measurement of body fat. “Your hips and knees are two of the most weight-bearing body parts,” Dr. Pandhi says. “Individuals should definitely consider taking up swimming or water aerobics because they take stress off of your joints while providing good cardio exercise. Any activity that increases your heart rate and decreases bodily wear is good.” Dr. Dedhia adds, “If you can strengthen the muscles around the joint, you reduce the amount of pressure the joint incurs, thereby alleviating some of the pain. There’s no easy solution to alleviating early arthritis, but with persistent exercise and healthy lifestyle choices, you can retain an active lifestyle with as little pain as possible.” Orthopedic surgeons 4 FRANCISCAN FOCUS

No Bones About It

Nikhil Pandhi

Education and prevention lead to stronger support Just as a foundation is essential to supporting a home, the bones and joints in a person’s body are essential to supporting health and vertical positioning. The bones and joints are a complex member of the body’s operating system. Made of materials both hard and soft, these areas require health factors and precautions be met to ensure their longevity. Two local experts in bone and joint health are Sunil Dedhia, M.D., and Nikhil Pandhi, D.O., M.P.H., both orthopedic surgeons with added training in sports medicine at Franciscan Hammond Clinic. Dr. Pandhi’s experience and expertise in joint replacement leads him to promote healthy lifestyles in his patients and the public. Dr. Pandhi notes that joint deterioration, while prevalent in society, isn’t necessarily the effect of one cause or event, but rather is the cumulative effect of the arthritic process, incorporating years of cartilage wear in combination with previous injuries or uneven joint compression. “Many risk factors are involved in the process of arthritic development, including age, overweight or obese body type, sedentary lifestyle, joint injury, and misalignment. There are congenital and genetic factors as well,” says Dr. Pandhi. Dr. Dedhia agrees. “All issues of arthritis, osteoporosis and degenerative bone disease can be seen with time and age. If you start with education and awareness in getting the proper nutrition, diet, and calcium when you’re an adolescent, you have less chance of developing problems later in life.” Time and age are one aspect of damage, but the body’s angle is another. “Joints deteriorate over time due to the way our bodies are aligned,” says Dr. Pandhi. “We refer to the angle from the center of the hip to the ankle as the mechanical access degree. This degree alone can determine whether you have higher weight loads on one part of the knee versus the other, which is often times the origin of damage.” Despite the stereotype of “old age, feeble bones,” Dr. Dedhia notes that a trend has developed to more occurrences of joint issues in the younger population because of athletics and sports injuries. “We’re seeing a lot more degenerative change at younger ages than what was treated 20 years ago.” Reversal of this younger degenerative disease trend is important to prevent early arthritis and bone loss in the young population. Dr. Pandhi notes that benefit is derived from personal education and from efforts to lower one’s Body Mass Index (BMI). According to the Centers for Disease Control, BMI is a number calculated from a person’s weight and height, providing a reliable measurement of body fat. “Your hips and knees are two of the most weightbearing body parts,” Dr. Pandhi says. “Individuals should definitely consider taking up swimming or water aerobics because they take stress off of your joints while providing good cardio exercise. Any activity that increases your heart rate and decreases bodily wear is good.” Dr. Dedhia adds, “If you can strengthen the muscles around the joint, you reduce the amount of pressure the joint incurs, thereby alleviating some of the pain. There’s no easy solution to alleviating early arthritis, but with persistent exercise and healthy lifestyle choices, you can retain an active lifestyle with as little pain as possible.”

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