September marks the start of Arthritis Awareness Month.
Last year, a study by The Arthritis Society found that one in three Canadians living with arthritis had to quit working as a result of their condition.
About 4.7 million Canadians age 15 and older report having arthritis. There are more than 4.4 million Canadians living with osteoarthritis (OA) and more than 272,000 people living with rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Within a generation, more than 10 million are expected to have either OA or RA.
The condition is one of the leading causes of long-term disability in the country.
Approximately one out of every 136 workers suffers from RA, and this is expected to increase to one in 68 workers within a generation.
A study by the Arthritis Alliance of Canada found that the disease costs the Canadian economy $33.2 billion a year, both directly and indirectly in healthcare costs and lost productivity.
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