KARACHI: The fast depleting infrastructure, poor road conditions and further damage to thoroughfares after seasonal rains is now taking toll on health of Karachiites with most of them are youngsters as more than 50 per cent bikers in the city have been found with chronic lower back pain due to injuries they suffer while riding.

Citing recent data and study, health experts claimed that 56pc young bikers are paying the price for riding their motorcycles on badly damaged roads, which have become almost not motorable due to hundreds of potholes, open manholes and accumulation of sewage.

They said not only the motorbikes, but even women who travel in rickshaws in Karachi are suffering from lower back pain due to strain and injuries they suffer on the broken roads of Karachi, and urged authorities to launch an immediate drive to repair all the main and branch roads in the city to prevent young men and women from permanent disability due to dilapidated condition of roads in the megalopolis.

“Our research and data collected from various health facilities indicate that around 56pc motorcyclists, mostly young college and university students are complaining of chronic lower back pain due to broken and undriveable roads of Karachi,” renowned rheumatologist and Pak-American Arthritis Centre (PAAC) Managing Director Dr Saliha Ishaq told a news conference on Thursday.

Study finds around 56pc motorcyclists suffer from lower back pain

“It’s alarming and I say this because many motorcyclists are now found unable to drive their bikes for sustaining serious damage to their ligaments or backbone because of dilapidated condition of roads in Karachi.”

She referred to the unprecedented increase in the complaints of muscle and joint pain, which led to an effort to collect the data and ascertain the reason behind the fresh trend. She warned that if the timely treatment of such problems was not carried out, it could damage the quality of life.

“So we advise people with such complaints to approach trained and qualified rheumatologists for the timely diagnosis and treatment for their conditions. Realising the growing need, Pakistan’s first arthritis centre has been launched in Karachi recently by a group of health experts for the early diagnosis and treatment of musculoskeletal diseases and systemic autoimmune conditions, commonly referred to as rheumatic diseases,” she added.

According to experts, rheumatoid arthritis, or RA, is an autoimmune and inflammatory disease, in which the immune system of a person attacks healthy cells in his or her body by mistake, causing inflammation (painful swelling) in the affected parts of the body. Rheumatoid Arthritis mainly attacks the joints, usually many joints at once.

“If a person is having joint and muscle pain which aggravates while taking rest, but becomes bearable while working, the person should immediately approach a rheumatologist,” suggests Dr Saliha.

Dr Babar Saeed of Ehad Medical Center (EMC), which is treating such patients at its 20 centres across Karachi in collaboration with PAAC, said that around 3pc of Pakistani population is already suffering from different autoimmune diseases as well as rheumatoid arthritis, but unfortunately, due to lack of trained and qualified rheumatologists in Pakistan, thousands of people, both young and old are living with chronic pain for years without proper treatment and management.

“Now, this fast depleting infrastructure and poor road conditions in Karachi are further adding burden to our health system and most alarmingly affecting people’s health and routine life,” he said.

Unfortunately, he said, most of the patients with arthritis, especially backache, are misdiagnosed and suffer for months or even years before reaching any trained and qualified rheumatologist.

Published in Dawn, July 30th, 2022