MILLIONS of people with arthritis will lose about five years worth of quality life due to the condition, York research suggests.

The Defy Arthritis at Every Age report says that more than 50 percent of people who suffer with the condition feel unable to ask for help, with 75 percent regularly feeling lonely. The research into Quality-Adjusted Life Years was by York Health Economics Consortium at The University of York.

Liam O’Toole, Versus Arthritis chief executive, said: "Today we are calling on everyone to push back against arthritis and join a national conversation to make this invisible condition visible."

“We want more people talking about arthritis more frequently and more loudly, so it is no longer ignored, and no one has to live with it alone.”