Implanted hips and knees don’t last forever. Surgeons try to schedule them in such a way that patients who get implants won’t need another, but there is no guarantee. For example, patients in their 60s are often advised to hold out for a few years so they won’t need a second hip or knee replacement in their 80s. A rule of thumb is that an implanted hip or knee should be good for at least 15 to 20 years, and possibly longer. A study in The Lancet found that knee implants were still good after 10 years in 96% of patients, and still working after 20 years in 90% of patients. Another study found more than 80% of knee replacements last 25 years or more.
Wednesday Links
- Tyler Cowen on an early study by Claudia Goldin explaining inequality: returns to education is the culprit.
- Case and Deaton: Life expectancy at age 25 for those with four-year college degrees rose to 59 years on the eve of the pandemic, up from 54 years in 1992. But for those without college degrees, life expectancy reached its peak around 2010 and has been falling ever since. (NYT)
- Matt Yglesias rejects the Case/Deaton argument for “deaths of despair.”
- 20 percent of adolescents had symptoms of major depressive disorder during the pandemic, but less than half got treatment.
- 45% of the Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee have conflicts of interest. That may be why the government published the food pyramid that caused so many people to get fat.
The World is Getting Safer
A graph you don’t tend to see in the mainstream media. Thanks to the Committee to Unleash Prosperity for the pointer.
Tuesday Links
- Jeff Goldbery explains our disappointing life expectancy statistics: We lead the rest of the developed word in death by guns, suicides, drug overdoses, and in obesity.
- Unpaid caregiving lowers employment and wages – for men caregivers more than women.
- For the lay reader: why Claudia Goldin won the Nobel Prize in economics.
- How liberals live: New York city has more income inequality than any other large city in the country. (NYT)