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
A rare inherited condition that causes dramatic, early aging
Symptoms of Werner syndrome, which causes premature aging, can appear in a person's teens and progress quickly in their 20s and 30s.
The rare condition that makes people unable to smile
Moebius syndrome is a rare condition that affects several cranial nerves, impairing the muscles that control facial expressions and eye movements.
A rare disease that causes insatiable hunger
Prader-Willi syndrome is a rare genetic disease that causes poor feeding in infancy but later triggers insatiable hunger.
The rare genetic disorder that forces people to avoid sunlight
People with xeroderma pigmentosum can severely burn within minutes of being in the sun and are thousands of times more likely to develop skin cancer than others.
The rare mosquito-borne illness that causes deadly brain inflammation
Mosquitoes that transmit La Crosse virus disease live in wooded areas in the U.S., mainly in the Upper Midwest, Mid-Atlantic and Southeast.
This rare disease causes people to move uncontrollably and unintentionally self-harm
Lesch-Nyhan syndrome is an extremely rare disease that affects patients' behavior and cognitive skills.
The exceptionally rare disease that causes holes to form in your brain
Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease is an extremely rare and fatal brain-wasting disease that's like a human version of "mad cow."
What is hantavirus? The rare but deadly respiratory illness spread by rodents
Hantaviruses are spread by rodents and can cause deadly respiratory and kidney illnesses in humans. It recently killed Betsy Arakawa, actor Gene Hackman's wife, in a widely covered case.
