The U.S. government said this past Thursday that almost 33 percent of all U.S. adults with arthritis say that it's caused them to have limited success with their work.

In terms of the loss of productivity to businesses, that figure is astounding if you think about it. Although the study looked at 2003 numbers (the last year the data was available), the ranges per state spread from 25 percent (Nevada) to 50 percent (Kentucky).

Arthritis hits all ages, so this is not a study looking at positions held by older Americans -- but by any and all working Americans. The most recent figure: 46 million Americans suffer from some kind of arthritis.