ShareThisBy JEANNE STURIALE
Winston-Salem Journal
Thursday, May 31, 2007
The country's 78 million baby boomers born between 1946 and 1964 now have an affliction of their own.
It's called "boomeritis." It describes the aches and pains of an aging demographic.
"It's the first generation that's trying to stay active on an aging frame and has a feeling that we have some control over the aging process," said Dr. Nicholas DiNubile, an orthopedic surgeon in Havertown, Pa. and a spokesman for the Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons in Washington.
DiNubile is credited with coining the word "boomeritis." It has quickly caught on among the academy's 30,000 or so members.
The boomeritis phenomenon stretches far beyond the physical pain of a mass of people. It's about future strain on health care, and huge financial gain for select industries. It's about promising new discoveries, changing fitness attitudes, and more.
The oldest of the nation's boomers just passed 60, and, in the next 18 years, the remaining masses will cross that threshold. Medical advancements and other factors have blessed boomers with more health and youthfulness than their previous cohorts. Many have more disposable income and leisure time.
Against that backdrop, boomers are running, playing tennis and pursuing other pet pastimes -- all on musculoskeletal systems that aren't what they used to be.
And they're hurting, hobbling to orthopedists' offices with pain and strain in knees, hips and shoulders. Mostly, the culprit is osteoarthritis, or the gradual wearing down of joints.
"I say it's tendonitis, bursitis, arthritis and fix-me-itis," DiNubile said. "Boomers are a little less tolerant of symptoms, too. They really think we can fix everything."
Dr. Allston Stubbs, a Winston-Salem, N.C. orthopedic surgeon, said that his boomer-age patients have high expectations of remaining active and healthy.
"They want a simple and as minimally invasive a solution as possible that will return them to the activities they enjoy," Stubbs said.
One of Stubbs' patients, Kathy Lewis, is a former competitive tennis player. Trim at 59, she's still a regular on the courts.
Ten years ago, Lewis had arthroscopy, a minimally invasive procedure that helped ease her knee pain. Today, she stays on the courts with the help of physical therapy and occasional cortisone shots to her shoulders.
"Every day, I feel like I'm buying time," Lewis said recently.
Dr. David Martin, a professor of orthopedic surgery, has been seeing more boomer-age patients -- what he called "weekend warriors" _ at his practice at Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center. In his view, what we're seeing now is just the tip of the iceberg.
"We're probably 20 years down the line from the exercise-sports activity explosion," Martin said. "Worn-out joints will be a huge problem."
Boomeritis also encompasses the many exercisers who are overweight. Extra pounds on an aging frame can compound the problem, Martin said.
Treatments for osteoarthritis range from rest to joint replacement. The latter includes total replacement and revision, or "re-do," surgery.
Arthroscopy, which uses a camera to look at joints and repair or remove torn tissue, is a common intermediate treatment.
The orthopedic community is abuzz about boomeritis and its implications.
One of the biggest effects will be on the cost of medical care, said Dr. Laurence Laudicina, an orthopedic surgeon in St. Augustine, Fla.
"Musculoskeletal care is now the No. 1 reason for physician visits, and represents 14 percent of health-care spending," Laudicina said.
Health-care experts said that boomeritis will lead to further decreases in Medicare payments to hospitals and doctors, greater out-of-pocket expenses to patients and increases in surgical procedures. Surgeons, they said, will be pressed to work faster and harder to bring in more patients, to make up for the increasing disparity between cost and reimbursement. Down the road, the profession could even experience labor shortages.
Certain retailers are seeing a bump in sales of products geared to active boomers. Superfeet Worldwide Inc. of Ferndale, Wash., for example, has seen a 15 percent growth rate over the last three years in sales of its specialty insoles, said Amanda Norenberg, a spokeswoman for the company.
But the jolting effect of boomeritis on industry and health care, profitable or not, may be eased through more prevention, experts believe. And that's good for boomers.
Last month, the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons had its first "boomeritis" conference. It included a heavy dose of prevention discourse, said DiNubile, the academy spokesman.
