Global experts have identified more than 7,000 rare diseases that affect approximately 25 to 30million Americans and 350million people across the globe.
READ MORE: Do you suffer from a rare disease? Email [email protected] of millions of people are living with a rare disease, defined as a condition suffered by fewer than 200,000 people.
The diseases affect people from all walks of life and most don't seem to discriminate based on sex, race or location. And while some are genetic or hereditary - passed down through families - there are plenty that seemingly occur randomly.Elephant man syndrome The film is based on the real-life case of Joseph Merrick, a severely deformed man who lived in London in the late 1800s.
Life expectancy ranges anywhere from nine months to 30 years depending on severity of the condition and there is no cure.The disease affects males slightly more than females and experts estimate just fewer than 100 patients have been reported with the condition in the medical literature.
There is no known cause of Cotard's syndrome, though experts say it could be a symptom of a deeper neurological problem such as dementia, a toxic brain infection, migraines, Parkinson's disease, epilepsy and stroke. First identified in 1955 by British psychiatrist Dr John Todd, he named the rare disorder after the famous Lewis Carroll novel with the same title in which the main character feels her body is growing larger and smaller.
Other non-visual effects of the syndrome include the ground feeling spongy and having weird sensations when touching something, the feeling as if time is moving very quickly or very slowly and distorted sound perception. It is also referred to a Dr Strangelove syndrome and sees the hand, frequently the left one, move and perform actions without a person being aware.
The condition became known as 'alien hand' because patients feel as though another entity is controlling the hand and the hand is 'acting on its own.' This ultrarare genetic disorder, also known as fibrodysplasia ossificans progressiva affects approximately one in 2million people, according to Orphan Net, which tracks rare diseases.
There is no cure for the disease, but steroids given to patients within 24 hours of a flare up may help reduce inflammation in the beginning stages of the disease. A rare genetic disease, fish odor syndrome is also known as trimethylaminuria. It is caused by a defect in the FMO3 gene and is considered a metabolic disease.Trimethylamine is what gives rotten fish and other sea creatures their pungent odor. Because of the faulty FMO3 gene, the body doesn't make a specific enzyme that helps break down chemicals in certain foods that produce trimethylamine in the body.
There is no cure fish odor syndrome but management can include changes in diet, acidic soaps, probiotics, activated charcoal, lotions and vitamin B12 supplements.At 18 months old, Lydia was diagnosed with Sanfilippo syndrome, a rare genetic disorder that causes cognitive decline in children In people with Sanfilippo syndrome, they lack an enzyme that breaks down a waste product produced in the body, which leads to their brains becoming 'clogged with toxic levels' of the material, according to the Cure Sanfilippo Foundation.
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