The Hindu : Andhra Pradesh News : Computer users suffer from urban spine syndrome

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Friday, Oct 12, 2007
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Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh

Computer users suffer from urban spine syndrome

Experts claim newer problems emerging
among urban youth
Prolonged working with computers leads
to spondylitis

HYDERABAD: While the city made rapid strides on the IT map in past one decade boasting of a host of software campuses teeming with professionals, medical practitioners monitoring these youngsters too are busy compiling list of hitherto unknown health conditions emerging from prolonged association with computers.

There has been no let up in the incidence of earlier known problems such as repetitive strain injuries (RSI), experts aver, while pointing out emergence of newer problems affecting the spine in particular.

One such condition is what Bakhtiar Choudhary of Hyderabad Spine Clinic describes as Urban Spine Syndrome.

Prof. Maj. Choudhary, who has been working on the software professionals in the city for a decade says more and more computer-users have been complaining of a malady which affects spine leading to early spondylitis, which differs from the conventionally known ailment in several aspects.

The new one is found to affect the regular computer users at an early age and aggravates at a faster pace. “While spondylitis usually expresses itself in the average age group of 45 years and above, the new problem is predominantly found in the age bracket of 24 years to 34 years,” he says.

“I call it an urban syndrome because you will not find this tendency among others,” Prof. Maj. Choudhary points out adding that factors such as work related stress among the professionals and bad ergonomics too act as contributors in this.

The possibility of early ageing and posture related problems are what he looks as its possible fallouts.

“The risk for disk prolapse is very high causing very painful situations. The early spondylitis can affect any of the neck, back or lower back regions.”

This being so, the problems related to the RSI, that is damage to nerves, tendons and softer tissues resulting from continuous punching on the keyboard, too are yet to decline.

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