Symbolic picture.
The month of October is going on. Winter is going to arrive soon. Doctors of AIIMS and big hospitals in the country’s capital Delhi claim that if the pain in your joints increases in the coming days, it will be due to Delhi’s pollution. Dr. Uma Kumar, Head of the Department of Rheumatology, AIIMS Delhi, in a special conversation with TV9 Bharatvarsha, said that various researches have revealed that there is a 12 to 18 percent risk of suffering from joint pain due to pollution factors in the body.
Dr. Vimlesh Dhar Pandey of Fortis Hospital told TV9 Bharatvarsha that poisonous air and PM 2.5 pollution are leading to increase in cases of rheumatoid arthritis in Delhi NCR. He said that Delhi is also one of the top 10 polluted countries in the world. Recent studies have revealed that pollutants are rapidly becoming the cause of joint pain.
Cases of rheumatoid arthritis are increasing
Dr Uma Kumar said, we are seeing an increase in cases of rheumatoid arthritis in patients living in polluted areas who do not have a family history or genetic predisposition to autoimmune diseases. He said that pollutants cause inflammation in our body, increase joint damage and help in increasing the disease. These pollutants promote inflammation and oxidative stress, causing the immune system to become overactive. This in itself is a kind of health emergency which we cannot ignore.
How does it become a carrier of pain?
Dr. Uma Kumar said that studies have shown that exposure to PM 2.5, nitrogen oxides and ozone increases the risk of arthritis and worsens the symptoms. Especially in such patients who are already suffering from some disease or the other. It has also been found that people living near busy roads as well as pollution associated with frequent traffic are associated with an increased risk of arthritis.
Studies are also being conducted abroad. Dr. Puleen Gupta of Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital, Delhi, said that a study published in the European Medical Journal (2025) has provided strong evidence linking air pollution to autoimmune diseases including RA. The study identified important causal relationships between common pollutants and immune system dysfunction and highlighted environmental damage as an important reason for the rise in these diseases.