What is Arthritis?
Arthritis means inflammation or swelling of one or more joints and describes more than 100 conditions that affect joints, tissues around the joint, and other connective tissues. Specific symptoms vary depending on the type of arthritis, but usually include joint pain and stiffness.
What Are the Main Types of Arthritis?
- Osteoarthritis – the most common form of degenerative joint disease or “wear and tear” arthritis occurring most frequently in the hands, hips, and knees
- Rheumatoid Arthritis – an autoimmune and inflammatory disease whereby the immune system attacks healthy cells by mistake
- Gout – a common form of painful, inflammatory arthritis
- Fibromyalgia – a condition that causes pain throughout the body
- Psoriatic arthritis – a side effect of psoriasis, a chronic autoimmune skin disease that speeds up the growth cycle of skin cells.
- Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis (JIA), the most common form of childhood arthritis that can cause permanent physical damage to joints, resulting in disability
What are the Mission and Goals of the Arthritis Society Canada?
Mission
The Society is fueled by donors and volunteers, with a mission to fight the fire of arthritis by supporting vital research, advocacy, innovation, information and support.
Goals
- provide accessible virtual programs, but also a variety of in-person services – one of them being the camp program for kids with arthritis
- invest in scientific research and discovery to spark new ideas and careers in arthritis research, support talented investigators and trainees seeking to understand the causes of arthritis and develop innovative solutions to improve quality of life for those living with arthritis, on the road to finding a cure. Arthritis Society Canada was able to invest a remarkable $6.2M in research in 2023, compared to $5.3M the previous year and $3.6M the year prior to that.
- Reach out – They reached 3.2M Canadians with trusted information in more than 3,000 communities.
Maddie Watt’s Story
Since she was a two-year-old, Maddie Watts has been skiing. It’s what she has always done, and what she’s always loved to do.
“It’s so freeing. You’re just zooming along, it’s beautiful, the air is fresh.”
That’s why at 17 her life went crashing off course with a diagnosis of facet joint syndrome, a severe form of osteoarthritis of the spine. This news arrived after an agonizing 18 months of tests, surgeries, and treatments.
“Eighteen months of worry. Eighteen months of tears. And why? Because nobody thinks about arthritis,” says Maddie’s mom, Laura.
After being told her body would “buckle” under her, Maddie was forced to trade her cherished skis for walkers, wheelchairs, and canes.
Maddie explains, “It was just a lot of things going away very, very quickly. Being told I couldn’t ski anymore was certainly one of the defining moments in my journey. It kind of makes you devalue yourself as a person because you’re not very effective to society. It just makes you feel like a problem and not a person.”
For millions of Canadians like Maddie, the fire of arthritis turns dreams and joys to ash. When Maddie learned of her diagnosis, she had a torrent of questions. She turned to Arthritis Society Canada for answers, just as 3.2 million Canadians did in 2022-23. Maddie’s story is brighter now as she has taken up adaptive skiing and has caught the attention of the Canadian Paralympic Committee and her eyes are fixed on the future – and a spot on the 2026 Canadian Paralympic Team.
