Chennai: It is no secret that too much consumption of alcohol can cause health issues but a new research shows that it can also damage your hip bones. Heavy drinkers are facing a disease avascular necrosis (AVN) that kills the bone tissues in the hip joint because of the interruption in blood supply, say the orthopedicians.
Dr. Deen Muhammad, director of orthopaedics and traumatology at Madras Medical College told a leading daily that too much of alcohol can affect blood supply, leaving the tissues dead. The symptoms of the disease are pain in front of the thigh, knee, and lateral part of hip or groin.
The cases of AVN that comes before Dr Muhammad are at least 10 a month where patient is a regular drinker. The most viable solution is hip replacement in these cases.
In some cases AVN can cause small breaks in bone that could also lead to collapse. It mostly occurs in men aged between 30 to 60.
Another expert, Dr. Praveen Kumar who is an orthopaedic sergeon at Apollo Hospital says that 40% of AVN patients he has treated are heavy drinkers who are mostly men in their thirties and forties. Risk of AVN is higher if the person is a smoker or into steroids, says Dr Kumar.
According to experts, not all of the patients have to go through a hip replacement. Stage I or II patients are treated with either medicines or bone marrow injection. Only 30% of the patients have to undergo a hip replacement, says Dr Kesavan, an expert at Global Hospital.
