Arthritis Care joins call to "wave" on World Arthritis Day ...

Tuesday, 02 October 2012

Arthritis Care is calling on everyone in the UK to take a picture of people waving as part of a campaign to show their support for people with arthritis.

There are ten million people of all ages with arthritis in the UK and over 120 million people in Europe alone.

The World Arthritis Day 'wave' campaign aims to raise awareness of the importance of physical activity in helping prevent and treat arthritis as well as keeping people mobile, living independently and able to participate in society.

A recent Arthritis Care report OANation 2012 reported on the plight of the 8.5 million people in the UK with osteoarthritis (OA). 71 per cent - that's more than six million people - were in some form of constant pain due to their osteoarthritis and one in eight (over 1 million people in the UK) said the pain is often "unbearable".

The report also highlighted how many people become less active when they are diagnosed with osteoarthritis. 

Philip Conaghan, Professor of Musculoskeletal Medicine at the University of Leeds and a member of the OANation 2012 advisory panel said: "It's frustrating that this survey revealed that many people become less active when diagnosed with OA, when all the clinical evidence available suggests this is the worst thing you can do. Keeping moving can actually strengthen joints and improve symptoms. We have to make sure that people with OA get better information and advice about this and supporting this wave campaign is one way of delivering this message."

"Everyone seen waving counts, so this is a great opportunity for people to bring together their family, friends, colleagues and teammates to get across the keep moving message," says Judith Brodie, CEO of Arthritis Care. "Waving is a small movement, but it could be the first of a very important journey. We want people with arthritis to know that something can always be done, and contacting us at Arthritis Care for support and information is the first step.