Help Millions Weather Arthritis Storms This Holiday Season

VANCOUVER, BC, Nov. 21, 2024 /CNW/ - When someone has arthritis, it can feel like a cloud is constantly following them, threatening to storm on life. Unpredictability, caused by pain, fatigue, flares and more, is a major aspect of living with a chronic disease. At Arthritis Research Canada – the largest clinical arthritis research organization in North America – scientists conduct research to find practical answers that help people overcome arthritis challenges and thrive. This holiday season, the organization is calling on Canadians to help.

"An arthritis diagnosis can be confusing and overwhelming," said Dr. Diane Lacaille, Arthritis Research Canada's Scientific Director. "People have to continue working, caring for children, attending school, exercising and completing daily tasks, while also weathering storms in the form of arthritis symptoms and serious complications."

Over six million Canadians, of all ages, currently live with different types of arthritis. By 2040, that number is expected to increase to nine million. Despite this growing problem, arthritis research receives only two per cent of available research dollars in Canada.

No One Should Be Alone During a Storm

Arthritis Research Canada's team of experts helps Canadians weather storms caused by arthritis. This looks like creating a research-backed program to help people stay employed or developing and testing a unique program to prevent osteoarthritis after a sport-related knee injury. It looks like testing the safety of arthritis medications during pregnancy or researching the safety and efficacy of new medications. It's using cutting-edge technology to discover how lupus develops in the body and finding ways to prevent life-threatening complications like heart attacks, strokes and blood clots. Arthritis research is this and so much more.

"When you give to Arthritis Research Canada, you fuel research that finds answers and leads to ground-breaking, life-changing solutions," said Dr. Lacaille.

Want to make a difference for millions of Canadians? Support arthritis research, so that people living with arthritis can weather every storm this disease sends their way: arthritisresearch.ca/weather-the-storm.

Thanks to a special matching gift offer from the Lohn Foundation, life-saving gifts this holiday season will be matched dollar for dollar, DOUBLING the impact of support for critical research.

ABOUT ARTHRITIS RESEARCH CANADA:

Arthritis Research Canada is the largest clinical arthritis research institution in North America. Our mission is to transform the lives of people impacted by arthritis through patient-centred research and engagement. Arthritis Research Canada's scientific director, Dr. Diane Lacaille, leads a team of over 100 researchers, trainees and staff whose life-changing research is creating a future where people living with arthritis have the knowledge and tools to triumph over pain and disability. Arthritis Research Canada is now conducting arthritis research from coast to coast with centres in British Columbia, Alberta, Quebec, and Nova Scotia and scientists affiliated with eight major Canadian universities: University of British Columbia, Simon Fraser University, University of Calgary, Université Laval, McGill University, Université de Montréal, Université de Sherbrooke and Dalhousie University. Arthritis Research Canada is leading research aimed at preventing arthritis, facilitating early diagnosis, finding new and better treatments, and improving quality of life.

SOURCE Arthritis Research Canada