Cancer, heart disease, the common cold — these medical conditions are well-known by the public, in part, because they affect large numbers of people. But did you know there's a genetic condition that causes babies to suddenly lose all their fat after birth? Or an aggressive autoimmune disorder that can cause the bridge of the nose to collapse? Or a disease that causes the skin to blister under even the lightest pressure? Every week at Live Science, we call attention to a rare disorder that may not be widely known, describing its symptoms, treatments, causes and recent cases that caught our attention.
Latest about rare diseases
Tularemia: The 'rabbit fever' that can fatally infect humans
Tularemia, or "rabbit fever," is an infectious disease that normally affects animals but can spread to humans, sometimes via tick and deer fly bites.
Situs inversus: The condition where your organs are on the 'wrong' side
Situs inversus is a rare genetic condition that causes the organs in the chest and abdomen to be located on the opposite side from where they're usually found, like a mirror image.
Frosted branch angiitis: A rare eye condition that makes the retina look like a frosted tree
Frosted branch angiitis is a rare condition that makes the blood vessels that supply the retina look like the frosted branches of a tree.
Fatal familial insomnia: A genetic condition where people never sleep again
As fatal familial insomnia progresses, patients completely stop sleeping and enter a coma-like state that results in death within months.
Angelman syndrome: A disorder that stops people walking and speaking
Angelman syndrome is a rare disease that disrupts the normal development and function of cells, particularly in the nervous system, leading to severe developmental delays and learning disabilities.
Acromegaly: A disease that causes adults to grow uncontrollably
Patients with acromegaly make too much growth hormone, which causes them to grow disproportionately large bones, organs and tissues.
Stone man disease: A rare condition that causes a person to grow a second skeleton
Fibrodysplasia ossificans progressiva (FOP) is an extremely rare congenital condition that causes the body to grow a second skeleton, rendering patients immobile.
