Ahmedabad:  In a stark assessment of India’s public health priorities, a leading medical expert Dr. Arvind Chopra, Ayush Distinguished Scientist Chair and Director, Centre for Rheumatic Diseases, Pune who is coordinating the international CoPCORD (Cochrane) surveys warned that bone and joint disorders constitute a massive, yet neglected, national crisis. Citing rigorous scientific data, the expert revealed that approximately one in six Indians are currently suffering from arthritis, underscoring the severe burden of pain and disability.

He lamented that despite the ubiquity of joint issues—which are “very common” and “happen to everyone,” as per common belief—there is currently no dedicated national program aimed at improving the population’s bone and joint health.

“When we were doing MBBS, our teachers would say, ‘nobody dies from arthritis,'” the expert recalled, “This is completely wrong. Today we know that many types of joint diseases can cause premature death”.

Women, Youth, and the Global Anomaly

The survey data highlighted a severe disparity based on gender and age:

• Women bear the brunt: More than 60% of all joint pain sufferers are women. Rough estimates suggest that one-fifth or one-fourth of all women in India are suffering or have suffered from rheumatic pain requiring medical attention.
• Crippling diseases strike young: India exhibits a global anomaly where women aged 20 and 45 years have the highest prevalence of crippling inflammatory arthritis (Rheumatoid Arthritis). The expert stressed that these young women face compounding challenges related to marriage, social problems, and high infection rates, which exacerbate the disease.

While only about 10% of cases are serious, this translates to 4 to 4.5 million people suffering from severe, debilitating conditions nationwide. The devastating impact is not just medical; chronic pain destroys the quality of life and reduces national productivity.

The Hidden Causes: Lifestyle, Infection, and Tobacco

Chopra along with Ahmedabad based Dr. Sapan Pandya detailed that many joint problems are not isolated incidents but consequences of modern living and preventable factors:

1. Lifestyle and Posture: Many chronic pains begin as lifestyle disorders related to poor posture and modern habits, such as sleeping while using a mobile phone. Additionally, obesity is a huge risk factor, not just mechanically, but because increased fat tissue produces inflammation that affects the joints.
2. Infection Trigger: The expert pointed to the Chikungunya epidemic (last seen in 1970 and reappearing in 2006) as a classical example where a virus fundamentally changes the body’s system, leading to various types of arthritis that can persist for many years.
3. The Tobacco Connection: The speaker took specific aim at tobacco use, stating that while media coverage focuses on cancer, tobacco is a scientifically proven risk factor for auto-immune diseases and inflammatory arthritis. “I want to tell you that these joint diseases are several times more important than cancer,” he asserted, noting that tobacco contributes to premature death and osteoporosis.

The expert also touched on common pain factors often ignored in public policy, noting that bad roads, poor seating, and occupational hazards—such as working long hours in fields or while traveling—contribute significantly to chronic neck, back, and low back pain.

The Future is Integrative Medicine

Addressing the severity and complexity of chronic joint pain, the speaker advocated for a paradigm shift toward Integrated Medicine.

“The future will be Integrated Medicine,” the expert stated, explaining that this approach combines the strengths of modern medicine (particularly for acute, severe stages) with traditional systems such as Ayurveda, Yoga, and Homeopathy. The goal is to provide treatment that is both more effective and safer, with fewer side effects.

The integration process is supported by new scientific findings: “It is now proven that vegetarian (Shakahari) food is beneficial for arthritis,” the expert noted, as it possesses anti-inflammatory properties—a principle deeply embedded in Ayurveda’s Ahar Vihar (dietary conduct).

The scientific CoPCORD surveys, which involve researchers going house-to-house across defined geographical areas to gather unbiased statistics, aim to produce the concrete data necessary to compel national policy makers to fund prevention and treatment programs for this silent epidemic. DeshGujarat