Twenty grams of essential amino acids taken twice daily for a week before and for two weeks after knee-replacement surgeries helped 16 patients, mean age 69, recover faster and with much less muscle atrophy than a control group ingesting a placebo.
The approach could spell relief and speed recovery for a growing population of ageing adults who face total knee-replacements because of loss of mobility and pain problems. An estimated 3.48 million Americans are projected to need the surgery, known as total knee arthroplasty (TKA), by 2030.
The findings are part of an ongoing collaboration led by Hans C. Dreyer, a professor of human physiology at the University of Oregon, with the Eugene-based Slocum Research & Education Foundation and the Oregon Research Institute.
Atrophy in the quadriceps, a group of four muscles on the front of the thigh, has been a long-running problem following knee-replacement surgeries, Dreyer said.
In the study, 12 members of a control group receiving 40 grams a day of a non-essential amino acid supplement, a placebo, averaged an 18.4 loss in quadriceps muscle mass in their operated leg six weeks after surgery; those getting the supplement of eight essential amino acids (EEA) averaged a 6.2 percent loss. Eighty percent of atrophy occurred in the first two weeks after surgery. Atrophy in non-operative legs was about 50 percent of that in the operative leg in both groups. Muscle mass changes were seen with magnetic resonance imaging done at two and six weeks after surgery.
‘We’ve learned that the essential amino acids were able to mitigate the amount of muscle loss,’ Dreyer said. ‘The functional measures that we looked at

Dr Tom Lynch said the medical and IT worlds have come together to produce something unique. A group of medical consultants in Belfast have teamed up with IT specialists to develop a mobile app that can identify where a doctor is going wrong when interpreting X-rays. The app also helps medics develop their skills. It identifies areas of weakness that can be worked on in training and that could potentially save lives. According to those behind the training tool, it is the first of its kind in the world.
Dr Tom Lynch is among the founders. He said: ‘This is the medical and IT worlds coming together in Northern Ireland and producing something which is really unique.’
The app provides immediate feedback, and the more it is used by a doctor the more targeted and personalised the feedback becomes. Each doctor has particular strengths and weaknesses – this app means that the doctors are highlighted and then targeted. Primarily the device, known as Experior, will be used in accident and emergency and cancer departments, but could eventually be rolled out across all health specialities and even into education, industry and financial services. BBC

Scientists have developed an

A new study shows that a neurologist in an office thousands of miles away can deliver effective specialized care to people with Parkinson