Letter to the Editor: The Effect of Head Loading on Cervical Spine in Manual Laborers

摘要

We read with great interest, article by Dave et al. [1] titled “The effect of head loading on cervical spine in manual laborers.” The paper very appropriately highlights the implications of upper cervical accelerated degeneration following head loading activities. This also brings about an important consideration of having an upper limit of permissible weights that should be carried by manual laborers. The functional disability can be profound in relatively young populations who develop this in developing and underdeveloped countries [2]. Badve et al. [3] on a similar pattern performed a cross-sectional study on railway porters and reported a significant increase in the prevalence of OC1C2 osteoarthritis. While the research by Dave et al. [1] analyses the acute plain radiographic implications to head loading on the cervical spine, the article by Badve et al. [3] investigates a more delayed response based on cross-sectional imaging. Other authors have also reported similar findings [2,4-6].