A charity has warned that the UK is facing a `tsunami of pain' due to the expected rise in the number of arthritis cases in the country. According to estimates, around 17 million people in the UK will have the condition until 2030.

The report by Arthritis Care showed that more than two-third of those with the condition said that they were in constant pain and about one in eight described the pain as unbearable.

Philip Conaghan, Professor of Musculoskeletal Medicine at the University of Leeds pointed out that factors like increasing obesity and an ageing population would result in higher number of cases in the country. Professor Conaghan said that the UK is facing a `tsunami' of pain due to osteoarthritis as the population continues to age and the obesity level rises in the population.

Judith Brodie, CEO of Arthritis Care, said, "OANation 2012 clearly demonstrates that the individual, economic and societal burden of OA is already enormous, but with an ageing and increasingly obese population the future is looking bleak."

He also said that the policy-makers as well as professionals in the country should take the condition seriously and should take steps to address the issues like how the treatment for the condition is arranged and give to patients across the UK through health services.