TUESDAY, March 24, 2015 (HealthDay News) -- More and more middle-aged Americans are replacing their hips damaged by severe arthritis -- a surgery that used to be largely reserved for elderly people, a new study reports.
Researchers found that between 2002 and 2011, the rate of hip-replacement surgery nearly doubled among Americans ages 45 to 64. By 2011, those middle-aged patients accounted for over 42 percent of all hip replacements nationally -- up from 34 percent in 2002.
It's a striking change in a fairly short amount of time, according to lead researcher Dr.
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