Lagos may record more sudden deaths if the Third Mainland Bridge, a major access route for over 15 million people resident in the state is closed.

A casualty was recorded on Tuesday after a heavy rainfall that left commuters in long hours of traffic in parts of the state, an incident medics said may not be unconnected with underlying health conditions.

According to experts, traffic jam triggers anxiety and stress resulting in complications that often lead to sudden death in people with compromised cardiovascular system or other underlying health conditions. Cardiovascular disease is an umbrella term that describes diseases that affect the heart and its arteries functioning.

A Consultant Psychiatrist at the Federal Neuro Psychiatrist Hospital Yaba, Lagos, Dr. Oluwaniyi Stephen named stroke, heart thrombosis, traffic rage, diabetes and hypertension as underlying factors that could trigger sudden deaths among city dwellers like Lagos.
Road rage occurs when people are trapped in prolonged traffic resulting in stress and they attack each other at the slightest provocation.

While thrombosis occurs when blood clots accumulates due to long stay at a point and suddenly bursts into vital organs resulting in death. It could be formed by long hours of traffic. If one is obese and stuck at one point in traffic for hours, it could lead to embolus and when this lasts for two-three minutes, it could result in the death of the part of the brain affected.

Offering details on the link between the maddening traffic situation and sudden death, Oluwaniyi said: “One thing you can be sure of is that when the bridge is closed the stress level will go up and when the stress level in an urban center shuts up, you are going to have sudden deaths because people with compromised systems will succumb.”

He continued: “There is no doubt that people will be under intense stress and many can die suddenly.
Commenting on the organs affected by such a condition, the Secretary General of the Association of General and Private Medical Practitioners of Nigeria (AGPMPN) Dr. Marcus Eruaga, described long traffic queue as a stressor.

“Traffic jam is a stressor. It elevates the stress level. If you are trapped in a prolonged traffic, you are stressed, and this affects all parts of the body. The whole system is affected. Stress hormones such as adrenalin and cortisol are released into the system.
Adrenalin shuts the blood pressure up and increases heart rate. If you are in traffic, you are likely to sweat more, your mood increases, you will be irritable and the person becomes angry easily. The whole system is hyperactive.

Explaining the complications he said: “In such circumstance somebody with underlying disease like hypertension, high cholestrol is a candidate for stroke because such person may have compromised cardiovascular system. If the adrenalin is shut up, it could lead to stroke which occurs when there is bleeding into some part of the brain. Some others suffer paralysis when organs responsible for movement are affected.”

Their remarks tally with those of the retired Chief Medical Director of the Federal Neuro Psychiatric Hospital, Yaba, Dr. Dr. Idowu Malomo, who recently warned about a looming mental epidemic in the country.
“All our mental health is impaired, especially in the urban centers. I am not talking about mental disorder.”

Malomo like his colleagues fingered harsh socio-economic and environment factors like frequent power outages, poverty and stress as factors that frequently impair our mental health consequently resulting in mental disorder.