Most Canadians have been touched by cancer, or have a close family member or friend who has. But as prevalent as cancer is, arthritis is far more common.

Smoking will increase your risk of cancer, emphysema, heart disease, stroke, and dying young, but if you manage to dodge all those bullets, it may actually reduce your need for joint-replacement surgery later in life.

Smoking will increase your risk of cancer, emphysema, heart disease, stroke, and dying young, but if you manage to dodge all those bullets, it may actually reduce your need for joint-replacement surgery later in life.

When it comes to feared diseases, arthritis hardly ranks up there with killers such as cancer, heart disease and Alzheimer’s. Yet arthritis causes more disability than any other disease.

Biologics-na�ve Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis (JIA) patients may have an increased risk of cancer compared with the general Swedish population, according to research presented today at EULAR 2010, the Annual Congress of the European League Against Rheumatism in Rome, Italy.