Nearly half a century after the first clumsy attempt at replacing a hip joint, an American surgeon at Johns Hopkins hospital and an American surgeon implanted a femoral replacement with a large, fixed head, made of Vitallium—a cobalt and chromium alloy.

Across the globe, some 10% of men and 18% of women over the age of sixty suffer from moderate to severe forms of osteoarthritis. Osteoarthritis is a degenerative joint disease in which the cartilage deteriorates, causing injury to the joint and resulting in stiffness, pain and loss of movement as bone rubs against bone.  Aside from age, the most common predictors of osteoarthritis appear to be obesity, physical inactivity, smoking, excess alcohol consumption and injury. Rheumatoid arthritis, in which the joint lining becomes inflamed, is responsible for some hip replacement surgeries as well.

Although hip replacements were once reserved for those over the age of sixty—under the assumption that this group would be less active—therefore  place less stress on their new hip joint—many younger people are undergoing hip replacement surgery in order to increase their overall quality of life. That being said...surgery to replace the hip joint with an artificial joint is generally recommended when the benefits of that surgery are believed to outweigh the risks...

A study published in the Journal of American Medical Association in November, 2013, brought some of the potential risks of testosterone therapy to light. The study concluded that for men over the age of 65, testosterone therapy could increase the risk of heart attack, stroke and death by nearly 30%. One doctor likened the risks of testosterone therapy as being equivalent to smoking two packs of cigarettes daily.

Shortly after the Stryker Urgent Field Safety Notice (July, 2012), Stryker issued a recall of the Rejuvenate and ABGII. The recall listed many of the same issues as the Stryker Urgent Field Safety Notice, however at this time Stryker declined to state a firm failure rate for the recalled hip implants. Those who have not yet experienced problems with a recalled Stryker hip implant could have a chance of developing problems in the future.