According to a new study, people who have undergone a total hip or knee replacement surgery are more vulnerable to heart attack, after the first month of the operation.

Compared to those who didn't have the surgery, the possibility of having a heart attack for those who have knee surgery were more than eight times higher. People with history of hip surgery are four times more prone also to cardiac arrest.

The research was accomplished by trailing 13,849 patients who have a total knee replacement surgery and 13,489 who have not. All participants were over 50 years old in average, and were already diagnosed with knee or hip osteoarthritis from January 2000 and December 2012.

 The researchers noted that during the follow-up period, 306 patients who undergo surgery and 286 who didn't undergo surgery developed a myocardial infarction. The results show that there were higher chance of cardiac arrest for the patients in the first month but the risk lessened over time.

Yuqing Zhang, a professor of medicine and epidemiology at the Boston University School of Medicine explained in the media release the results of their research.

"Our findings provide the first general population-based evidence that osteoarthritis patients who have total knee or total hip replacement surgery are at increased risk of heart attack in the immediate post-operative period," Dr Zhang stated.

Osteoarthritis is considered in the US as the most prevalent type of arthritis. According to the U.S. National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases (NIAMS), 27 million Americans are affected with the disorder, which causes stiffness and joint pain.

According to Dr. Gregg Fonarow, the best way to reduce the risk of heart attack is thru healthy lifestyle. He said that maintaining a healthy blood pressure, cholesterol level and body weight will substantially lower the chance of cardiac arrest. This can be achieved by healthy diet and exercise, and by also not smoking.

Each year, an estimation of 1.8 million arthroplasty procedures are conducted worldwide.