Skip to main content

Doctors find “gold mine” in woman’s knees

 

When a 65-year-old South Korean woman went in for knee pain, doctors weren’t expecting to strike gold. But that’s exactly what they found.

Unwanted stomach issues

Living with osteoarthritis can be incredibly challenging. The condition gradually wears down the cartilage in your joints, leading to stiffness, swelling, and persistent pain that can make even simple daily tasks feel exhausting.

Activities that were once easy — like climbing stairs, bending to tie your shoes, or even walking short distances — can become painful and slow.

The woman in this story had been struggling with osteoarthritis and according to her, pain relievers and anti-inflammatory medications offered little relief and brought unwanted stomach issues.


So she turned to acupuncture, according to a case published in the New England Journal of Medicine.

Acupuncture, a centuries-old alternative treatment, involves inserting needles into the body at specific points to relieve pain or treat illnesses. In this case, the needles— presumably made of gold — were intentionally left in her knees for continued stimulation.

But leaving needles in the body isn’t without risk.

“Foreign objects left inside the body can lead to inflammation, abscesses and infection,” said Dr. Ali Guermazi, a professor of radiology at Boston University who wasn’t involved in the case.


Foreign invaders

He also warned that embedded needles can complicate X-ray readings. “The needles may obscure some of the anatomy,” Guermazi said in 2013.

The body also doesn’t always take kindly to foreign invaders, and the reaction can fall under foreign body reaction or chronic inflammatory response.

“The human body wants to get rid of the foreign object,” Guermazi explained. “It starts with some mechanism of defense, for example inflammation and forming [fibrous tissue] around the object.”



The New England Journal of Medicine

Even more concerning, needles left in the body can make future medical imaging dangerous. “The patient can’t go into an MRI because needles left in the body may move, and damage an artery,” Guermazi added.

Evidence that acupuncture actually treats medical conditions is limited. Yet it remains a popular option for painful joints, especially in some Asian countries where inserting tiny pieces of sterile gold thread around a joint is a common arthritis treatment.

In the U.S., acupuncture is also widely used — an estimated 3.1 million adults and 150,000 children received the treatment in 2007, according to the U.S. National Institutes of Health’s National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine.

For this woman, her gold-laden knees are a stark reminder that sometimes, alternative medicine can leave more than just a mark — it can leave a literal treasure trove.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

7 Things That Happen To Your Body When You Don’t Have Sex For A While

 We all know that sex is good for you. It is a natural human act that, when done carefully and consensually, can be pleasurable and improve your health. But do you know why? How does it affect your body? And most importantly: What happens when you don’t have sex for a while? Here are some of the most common side effects of not getting enough action. Things That Happen To Your Body When You Don’t Have Sex For A While Sex, though often still a very taboo subject, is an important part of health. It is a way to express yourself, deepen your connection with another person, and make you feel happy and energized. Sometimes, however, we go through periods of life where we are either focused on other things, or we have simply decided to take a break from the act. Have you ever wondered what happens to your body when you haven’t had sex for a while? These are some of the things you might experience. Increased stress Sex helps relieve stress and lowers cortisol levels. When you’re stressed, y...
Post a Comment
Read more

More people are coming out as Aegosexual – here’s what it means

  As discussions around sexuality become more layered, so does the vocabulary used to describe them. One term now drawing attention is aegosexual, an “identity-less” experience that’s defined by “disconnection.” With gender and sexuality now part of everyday conversation, it’s no surprise that a growing number of new labels are finding their way into the mainstream. Aegosexuality, part of the asexual spectrum, describes people who experience arousal or desire without wanting to engage in sexual activity. At its core, the identity centers on a disconnect between experiencing attraction and wanting to personally act on it. ‘Disconnection’ The concept was first introduced in 2012 by Canadian psychologist and sexologist Anthony Bogaert, who originally referred to it as “autochorissexualism.” Bogaert described the experience as an “identity-less sexuality,” that’s “characterized by a disconnection between their sense of self and a sexual object or target.” In practical terms, someone wh...
Post a Comment
Read more

Common back-pain drug may be linked to higher dementia risk, large study finds

  A pain medication that millions of Americans rely on for chronic back pain may come with a hidden risk: a significantly higher chance of developing dementia or other cognitive problems, according to a major new study. Compared 26,000 adults Researchers from Case Western Reserve University and several partner institutions analyzed medical records from 68 health systems across the U.S., comparing 26,414 adults prescribed gabapentin for persistent low-back pain with a matched group who had similar pain — but didn’t take the drug. Their finding was sobering: Adults who received six or more gabapentin prescriptions were 29% more likely to be diagnosed with dementia and 85% more likely to develop mild cognitive impairment (MCI) within 10 years. The risk wasn’t limited to older adults. In fact, it was younger Americans who saw the most dramatic increases. Younger adults saw shocking risk increases For people normally considered decades away from dementia: Ages 35–49 taking gabapentin ha...
Post a Comment
Read more