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You might not want to rush into knee surgery. Physical therapy can be just as good for a common injury and at far less cost and risk, the most rigorous study to compare these treatments concludes.

Therapy didn't always help and some people wound up having surgery for the problem, called a torn meniscus. But those who stuck with therapy had improved as much six months and one year later as those who were given arthroscopic surgery right away, researchers found.

"Both are very good choices. It would be quite reasonable to try physical therapy first because the chances are quite good that you'll do quite well," said one study leader, Dr. Jeffrey Katz, a joint specialist at Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School.

He was to discuss the study Tuesday at an American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons conference in Chicago. Results were published online by the New England Journal of Medicine.

A meniscus is one of the crescent-shaped cartilage discs that cushion the knee. About one-third of people over 50 have a tear in one, and arthritis makes this more likely. Usually the tear doesn't cause symptoms but it can be painful.

When that happens, it's tough to tell if the pain is from the tear or the arthritis - or whether surgery is needed or will help. Nearly half a million knee surgeries for a torn meniscus are done each year in the U.S.

The new federally funded study compared surgery with a less drastic option. Researchers at seven major universities and orthopedic surgery centers around the U.S. assigned 351 people with arthritis and meniscus tears to get either surgery or physical therapy. The therapy was nine sessions on average plus exercises to do at home, which experts say is key to success.

After six months, both groups had similar rates of functional improvement. Pain scores also were similar.

Thirty percent of patients assigned to physical therapy wound up having surgery before the six months was up, often because they felt therapy wasn't helping them. Yet they ended up the same as those who got surgery right away, as well as the rest of the physical therapy group who stuck with it and avoided having an operation.

"There are patients who would like to get better in a `fix me' approach" and surgery may be best for them, said Elena Losina, another study leader from Brigham and Women's Hospital.

However, an Australian preventive medicine expert contends that the study's results should change practice. Therapy "is a reasonable first strategy, with surgery reserved for the minority who don't have improvement," Rachelle Buchbinder of Monash University in Melbourne wrote in a commentary in the medical journal.

As it is now, "millions of people are being exposed to potential risks associated with a treatment that may or may not offer specific benefit, and the costs are substantial," she wrote.

Surgery costs about $5,000, compared with $1,000 to $2,000 for a typical course of physical therapy, Katz said.

One study participant - Bob O'Keefe, 68, of suburban Boston - was glad to avoid surgery for his meniscus injury three years ago.

"I felt better within two weeks" on physical therapy, he said. "My knee is virtually normal today" and he still does the recommended exercises several times a week.

Robert Dvorkin had both treatments for injuries on each knee several years apart. Dvorkin, 56, director of operations at the Coalition for the Homeless in New York City, had surgery followed by physical therapy for a tear in his right knee and said it was months before he felt no pain.

Then several years ago he hurt his left knee while exercising. "I had been doing some stretching and doing some push-ups and I just felt it go `pop.'" he recalls. "I was limping, it was extremely painful."

An imaging test showed a less severe tear and a different surgeon recommended physical therapy. Dvorkin said it worked like a charm - he avoided surgery and recovered faster than from his first injury. The treatment involved two to three hour-long sessions a week, including strengthening exercises, balancing and massage. He said the sessions weren't that painful and his knee felt better after each one.

"Within a month I was healed," Dvorkin said. "I was completely back to normal."

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AP Medical Writer Lindsey Tanner in Chicago contributed to this report. --- Marilynn Marchione can be followed on Twitter at HTTP://TWITTER.COM/MMARCHIONEAP Lindsey Tanner can be followed on Twitter at HTTP://WWW.TWITTER.COM/LINDSEYTANNER © 2013 THE ASSOCIATED PRESS. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. THIS MATERIAL MAY NOT BE PUBLISHED, BROADCAST, REWRITTEN OR REDISTRIBUTED. Learn more about our PRIVACY POLICY and TERMS OF USE.

ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) -- Authorities investigating the apparent suicide of a college student discovered weapons and explosive devices in a dorm on the University of Central Florida campus in Orlando early Monday, and hundreds of students were evacuated, though the school said there was no immediate threat.

University police were called to the dorm around 12:20 a.m. after a fire alarm went off, UCF spokesman Grant Heston said. While they were on their way to the scene, a 911 call came in about a man with a gun.

Arriving officers found a man dead from what appeared to be a self-inflicted gunshot wound inside a residence at the Tower 1 dorm. Heston said the man was a student at the university.

Heston said the dorm has suites, with a main kitchen and living area, along with four bedrooms. The dead man was inside one of the rooms. Inside the room, Heston said, police also found what they described as an assault weapon, a handgun and incendiary devices. Florida law prohibits the possession of guns on state university campuses.

"Obviously you never want somebody to commit suicide, but knowing what we know about what was in his room, we feel better at least that no one else was hurt," Heston said.

He said the Orange County Sheriff's Office and the FBI are helping with the investigation. The sheriff's bomb squad was examining the explosive devices Monday morning. Heston said they would remove the devices from the building once it's safe to do so - which they hoped to be around noon.

About 500 students were evacuated from the dorm, and Heston said it would remain closed until authorities give an all-clear on the building.

Morning classes were canceled Monday but were to resume at noon, Heston said. Flashing signs around the campus alerted students and staff about the canceled classes. Campus shuttle buses were lined up about a half-mile from campus, with drivers standing by once the campus opens. The university's main campus in Orlando has about 51,000 students.

Antonio Whitehead, 21, a junior from Hollywood, Fla., said he heard the fire alarm go off after midnight and thought it was a routine alarm. He headed outside where he saw a crowd already heading across the street from the dorm.

"All of a sudden, I felt the crowd move a little faster. And a police officer with a machine gun or something told everyone to start moving a lot faster," he said.

Whitehead, who has lived in the dorm for two years, said the students were moved to an open area about 1,000 feet from UCF Arena. The area is a busy section of the campus, with restaurants and shops nearby.

Grant Hernandez, 20, a sophomore from Orlando who also is a resident at the dorm, said he woke up sometime after midnight when police were evacuating the building.

"We weren't allowed to get our cars. We weren't allowed to get our personal effects," Hernandez said.

"All we saw were people running, and they were not telling us what was going on," he added. "We were left unsure of things. It wasn't till about 6 o'clock that we got more information and a clearer picture of what was going on." He said officers on the scene began providing more information, and students checked updates on the university's website.

A statement there said the UCF Arena would open to accommodate displaced students. Counselors would be available to talk to students who need assistance.

The Tower 1 dorm is part of the school's popular Towers at Knight Plaza apartment building complex, according to UCF's website. Tower 1 has seven floors. The typical apartment layout has four bedroom and two bathrooms, the website says. Heston said the student who died had three roommates.

--- Associated Press writer Freida Frisaro in Miami contributed to this report.

© 2013 THE ASSOCIATED PRESS. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. THIS MATERIAL MAY NOT BE PUBLISHED, BROADCAST, REWRITTEN OR REDISTRIBUTED. Learn more about our PRIVACY POLICY and TERMS OF USE.

NICOSIA, Cyprus (AP) — A plan to seize up to 10 percent of people's savings in the small Mediterranean island nation of Cyprus sent shockwaves across Europe on Monday as households realized the money they have in the bank may not be safe.

A weekend agreement between Cyprus and its European partners called for the government to raid bank accounts as part of a €15.8 billion ($20.4 billion) financial bailout, the first time in the eurozone's crisis that the prospect of seizing individuals' savings has been raised.

Facing outrage, Cyprus' government delayed a parliamentary vote on the seizure and ordered banks to remain shut until Thursday while it tries to modify the deal to reduce the hit on people with small deposits.

Several hundred people gathered outside the vacant parliament building, with some chanting "thieves, thieves."

"We're very angry, betrayed, hurt and extremely disappointed," said protester Andriana Constantinou.

In order to get €10 billion ($13 billion) in bailout loans from international creditors, Cyprus agreed to take a percentage of all deposits — including ordinary citizens' savings. The surprise deal stoked fears that deposits in other countries could be targeted.

"The damage is done," said Louise Cooper of CooperCity, a financial research firm. "Europeans now know that their savings could be used to bail out banks."

The euro and stocks around the world took a hit even though the Cypriot economy accounts for only 0.2 percent of the combined output of the 17 European Union countries that use the currency.

The Cypriot government is now trying to modify the terms of the original plan and in particular to get a better deal for small savers with less than €100,000. The weekend deal foresaw a one-off charge of 6.75 percent on those savings, rising to 9.9 percent for those above the €100,000 mark.

While trying to make the package more appetizing for those with low savings, the government has to make sure that the total raised remains the same at €5.8 billion.

One solution doing the rounds is to make the tax more graduated: placing a one-time 3 percent levy on deposits below €100,000, rising to 15 percent for those above €500,000.

Still, the government has a battle to get a majority in the 56-member Parliament after some 25 lawmakers from communist AKEL, socialist EDEK and the Green party said they would vote down the levy that they have criticized as disastrous.

The stakes are high for the country of a million people, because a rejection of the package could see the country go bankrupt and possibly out of the common euro currency. Officials also fear a run on Cypriot banks no matter which way the voting goes.