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New Medical Advances Help Baby Boomers

PITTSBURGH (KDKA) ― New medical advances are welcome news for the millions of baby boomers who are going older across the country.

KDKA's Dr. Maria Simbra talked with some local experts about some new treatments for those boomers suffering from knee, eye and neck problems.

For knee problems, a new minimally invasive approach is making replacement easier.

"This is one of the biggest advancements in joint replacement these days, is the emphasis on less invasion, and less surrounding damage," said Dr. Yram Groff, from West Penn Hospital.

With traditional surgery, doctors say the tendon above the knee is cut to get into the knee joint.

Doctors say the technique still involves opening the knee, but the goal is to avoid the upper tendon and make a smaller incision, which speeds the recovery process.

"We have people up and out of bed on day one, we have people doing straight leg raises on day one, hopefully walking with a cane within a day or two," Dr. Groff said.

But doctors also say it's not for people with severely deformed joints.

"The surgical technique is a bit more demanding, the field of view is smaller, you have less visual cues," he added.

As for eye problems, when you age, you may have trouble seeing far away and close up, and you may have cataracts forming.

But doctors say to help with these issues, newer types of lenses can be surgically implanted.

These special lenses were FDA approved in 2005, health experts say.

Doctors say the rings carved into the lens helps you to see at different distances.

Your natural lens is surgically removed and the artificial lens replaces it.

However, experts say it's not for people with multiple eye problems, surgeries or glaucoma, and in many instances insurance is not covering it.

And for people with neck spine problems, the new artificial disc could be a good option.

"It's really the most revolutionary thing in spine surgery in the last 20 years, because it does maintain motion," says Dr. Donald Whiting, of neurosurgery at Allegheny General Hospital.

According to doctors, the usual procedure is a fusion where two adjoining neck bones are bound together, but then, they can no longer bend like neck bones usually do.

Doctors say this puts stress on the bones above and below where they're fixed, speeding up the wear and tear.

The newly FDA approved artificial disc is put in by the same type of surgery, but it allows for bending forward and back, side to side, and rotation, experts add.

Meanwhile, doctors say compared to their parents, boomers are healthier, better educated and living well into their 80s and beyond, and these advances are giving boomers new ways to grow older with more function in their daily lives.

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