Non-communicable chronic illness

	Photo: Loui Massicotte

As a relatively long-living people, Canadians experience a number of illnesses and problems that begin slowly and last for years.

When people age, of course, these problems intensify: in 2000/01, almost 87% of Canadians aged 65 and older reported that they struggled with at least one chronic condition. The most common of these are arthritis, hypertension, cataracts, heart disease, back problems, allergies, diabetes and thyroid conditions.

The prevalence of arthritis, hypertension, bronchitis and emphysema has actually declined in the last two decades, whereas evidence points to an increase in both asthma and diabetes.

More than 60,000 Canadians are diagnosed each year with diabetes. Moreover, an estimated 2.3 million Canadians have diabetes, but a great many of these people are unaware of it, since only 1 million people aged 12 and over reported having diabetes in 2000/01. In 2000/01, about 6% of Canadians aged 45 to 64 and 13% aged 65 and over reported having diabetes.

Diabetes has become the seventh leading cause of death in the country. It is an even more serious problem among Aboriginal people. Rates of Type 2 diabetes are three to five times higher in Aboriginal communities than in the general population.

Over 5.9 million Canadians aged 12 and over in 2000/01 reported experiencing some limitation in their normal daily activities from a continuing health condition.

In 2000/01, almost 10% of Canadians were reported to be at possible or probable risk of depression. Depression appears to be more common among women than among men:  12.3% of woman and 7.5% of men were reported to be at risk.