The Body Shop For People

The latest medical technology is supplying people with replacements for body parts that are worn out or failing. The first in a four-part series, The Body Shop, features a man who holds the world record for replacement joints. CBS News This Morning Health Contributor Dr. Dave Hnida reports.

It is now possible to replace every major joint in the human body, and nobody in the world has more first-hand knowledge of joint replacement, past or present, than Chuck Wedde of St. Joseph, Michigan.

Chuck Wedde knows all too well the value of the major joints in the human body. All of his have been gradually destroyed over the last 30 years by severe rheumatoid arthritis.

As a result, Chuck has had all 12 major joints in his body replaced, plus a few knuckles. "I've had my ankles replaced, my knees replaced, my hips, my shoulders, my elbows, my wrists, and five finger joints," Chuck says. "If I didn't have these joints, I would be in a wheelchair, or on a hospital bed in a nursing home someplace."

The artificial joints he received are not a perfect substitute for the real thing. His range of motion and mobility are greatly reduced, and some of the spare parts have worn out. For Chuck, the old saying "use it or lose it" is a matter of urgency.

"If you don't move them they're liable to rust," he says with a laugh. "That's what's happened to this wrist. I cannot move this wrist. It's froze solid. I can't move it, and that's what would happen to any joints in the body if you don't do anything, if you don't stay mobile, don't keep moving."

So Chuck keeps busy--a little too busy for some of his replacement parts. "I've abused my joints so bad. I tried to live a normal life like I did when I had my God-given joints and in the process I've loosened some joints," he admits.

Dr. George Kolletis gave Chuck a newly-designed elbow to replace his worn-out older model. He says Chuck's x-rays are a history lesson in joint replacement.

Comparing two x-rays, Kolletis explains: "This hip is several years old and uses some of the earlier technology, more primitive methods of cementing prostheses in place Â…whereas the hip on his left side is a much more modern version where the bone grows into the prosthesis."

This year, Chuck was awarded the Guinness World Record for person with the largest number of major joints replaced. He snatched the title from a woman in Florida who was claiming the record with five replaced joints.

"It's a painful record. It's been a painful record to carry on," he says. "It wasn't a competitive thing, and I hated to take it away from this woman in Florida. But five joints... That's nothing!"

Chuck is the Guinness record holder at 12 joints. His total is actually 17, but Guinness didn't count the five knuckles he had replaced.

But for Chuck and his wife Irma, the world record is just a token compared to the rel prize: a higher quality of life. "Mobility I guess is the best thing that joint replacement has given me," says Chuck. "I can get around and do things." Irma adds, "Well, he's not the man I married, let's put it that way. He's changed considerably, but we still have a lot of fun."

The price tag for Chuck's many spare parts over the years is more than $500,000, paid for by Chuck's insurance company. The average cost for each joint and the surgery is currently $25,000 to $35,000.

More from CBS News