Over 6,000 rare diseases (those that effect less than 1 in 2000 people) have been identified. Many of these diseases are life threatening, but because a relatively small number of people are alive at any given time with each individual disease, little or no research funding is applied toward finding a cure for each one. Often a diagnosis is delayed impacting the health and longevity of the person with the disease and causing untold heartache for everyone involved.
Join me, and thousands of others around the world, on February 28th and show your support for individuals with rare diseases, for families with children who have a child with a rare disease, and those who care for them. How can you do that? If you are impacted by a rare disease, tell your story by commenting at the end of this post or by uploading a photo or video at www.RareDiseaseDay.org. If you have not been personally impacted, show your support by watching this video and passing the URL along to others. The needs of those with rare diseases will only be addressed when enough people know about them and show they care.