The numbers are staggering: according to national data from 2010, over 300,000 hip replacements are performed each year. Osteoarthritis is the leading cause, and an increasing number of these surgeries are performed on ever younger patients. Typically, metal or plastic replacements are used to substitute for ailing original hips but now, something new is on the horizon. Scientists in St. Louis have discovered that a person’s stem cells, retrieved from fat reserves, can be used to grow new cartilage which can then be made into the shape of a new hip joint. Human trials of these stem cell derived hip joints are still a few years off. But this scientific advance is especially welcome, given that people may need more than one hip replacement as we continue to live longer. Is a hip replacement in your future? If so, Read This.