World Arthritis Day 2021: “Don’t Delay, Connect Today: Time2Work”

World Arthritis Day is celebrated on October 12 every year to spread awareness on arthritis and ease the struggles of people who fight the disease.

Advertisement

What is Arthritis?

“Arthritis” is an umbrella term that encompasses the common disabling disorders that primarily or secondarily affect joints. It is common as the age advances, although certain types may affect at a younger age. There are almost >100 types of arthritis. However, some of the common symptoms of arthritis are joint pain, stiffness & warmth, joint swelling, reduced range of motion, and skin redness. It hinders the patients from even performing routine tasks.

Advertisement

Types of Arthritis

Some of the common types of arthritis are:

• Osteoarthritis (OA) – Affects the entire joint along with cartilages, bones, muscles, and ligaments
• Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) – Inflammatory autoimmune disease of the joints
• Ankylosing spondylitis (AS) – Primarily affects the spinal joints
• Gout – Type of inflammatory arthritis that causes recurrent attacks of swollen and tender, red, hot joints
• Non-radiographic Axial Spondyloarthritis (nr-axSpA) – Autoimmune disease that affects pelvis and spine
• Psoriatic arthritis – Inflammation of the joints, secondary to psoriasis
• Spondyloarthritis (spondyloarthropathy or seronegative arthritis) – Type of arthritis that affects the spine
• Juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA)– Autoimmune arthritis in children
• Reactive arthritis – Joint pain, swelling, and inflammation that develop after an infection

Advertisement

History

World Arthritis was first celebrated in 1996 with the collective efforts of NGO – The Arthritis and Rheumatism International Foundation. The organization took extra measures to spread global messages on musculoskeletal diseases.

Lack of awareness among the public also led to under-diagnosis of rheumatic diseases in communities. The launch of huge campaigns against the diseases by the European League Against Rheumatism (EULAR) thus created awareness on the timely diagnosis and management strategies. Only after 20 long years in 2017, the annual celebrations were set up with a theme.

Global Theme for Event

The 2021 theme for World Arthritis Day is “Don’t Delay, Connect Today: Time2Work”.

The EULAR commemorates WAD 2021 through the EULAR Campaign – Don’t Delay, Connect Today: Time2Work. It also plans to release five dedicated podcasts widely on relevant content to celebrate awareness day.

People all around the world join to make their voices heard against all rheumatic and musculoskeletal diseases (RMDs).

Organizations like Arthritis Support Leicestershire support the event by providing exercise and yoga sessions, social and fundraising events, and members meetings.

World Arthritis Day 2021 – Celebrations

Arthritis Foundation organizes a global event every year to educate the public about various health choices, and treatment strategies for arthritis. The day also emphasizes the significance of the prompt diagnosis of arthritis.

Respondents all around the world join to commemorate this widespread movement and help people who suffer from the disease. The measures include:

• Active campaigning to spread awareness
• Using customized and unique purple and blue ribbons to symbolize the diseases
• Educate the mass public on arthritis by volunteering activities like a marathon, walkathon, public talks, or sponsored events.
• Health camps by specialists to let the public interact with relevant coordinator
• Social media campaigns using hashtags #WorldArthritisDay

Aim of the World Arthritis Day

• Raise awareness of RMDs amongst the medical community, people with RMDs, and the public.
• Influence public policy by making decision-makers aware of the burden of RMDs and the steps which can be taken to ease it.
• Ensure all people with RMDs and their caregivers are aware of the vast support network available to them.

Join CreakyJoints

The Global Healthy Living Foundation and CreakyJoints are implementing the notion of “fiercely fighting arthritis” as a rallying cry for the global arthritis community on World Arthritis Day.

The foundation requests sufferers of any form of arthritis to join the global campaign by sharing their snaps of holding the “Fiercely Fighting Arthritis” sign! (created by Eileen Davidson or yourself) @CreakyJoints with hashtags #WorldArthritisDay and #FiercelyFightingArthritis.

This would help raise a common voice, build strength among the community, and foster public awareness on RMDs.

Facts & Figures on Arthritis

• Arthritis is not a normal part of aging. It affects 1 in 3 people between 18-64 years of age.
• Currently, 4 million Australians live with arthritis and one in every six of them have arthritis.
• There are an estimated 100 million undiagnosed arthritis cases in Europe.
• Arthritis may even affect children; globally, ~ 300,000 children have arthritis.
• Moreover, a 2015 estimate shows that almost 75% of U.S. adults with arthritis were younger than 65 years.
• Approximately 50 million U.S. adults had doctor-diagnosed arthritis between 2005-2010 as per the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
• Arthritis is the number one cause of disability in the U.S.
• Osteoarthritis is the most common form of arthritis.
• A study shows that 71% of osteoarthritis patients feel fatigued and 75% of rheumatoid arthritis patients encounter sleep problems.
• The common comorbidities associated with people with arthritis are heart disease (49.3%), diabetes (47.1%), and obesity (30.6%).
• Nearly 172 million days of work are lost in the U.S. every year due to arthritis and other rheumatic conditions.
• Arthritis may escalate the activity limitations to 52% by 2040.
• Not all muscle and joint pains are caused by arthritis.
• There is no cure for most arthritis; However, treatments help ease the symptoms.

Managing Arthritis

Although the complete cure for arthritis is not available, one may follow simple measures to keep a check on their symptoms and live healthily.

• Know the type of arthritis you are suffering from and its treatment options
• Move around and stay active
• Explore your pain management strategies
• Balance your activities with periodic rest
• Maintain healthy weight
• Consume a well-balanced diet and drink plenty of water
• Ensure adequate sleep
• Seek support if required

References:

1. World Arthritis Day 2021 - (https://creakyjoints.org/world-arthritis-day-2021/)
2. World Arthritis Day: 12 October - (https://www.eular.org/world_arthritis_day.cfm)
3. World Arthritis Day 2021 - (https://www.gov.za/speeches/world-arthritis-day-2021-19-oct-2020-1004)

Source-Medindia