Rare diseases — Medical conditions you may never have heard of before

As fatal familial insomnia progresses, patients completely stop sleeping and enter a coma-like state that results in death within months.

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.

Patients with acromegaly make too much growth hormone, which causes them to grow disproportionately large bones, organs and tissues.

Fibrodysplasia ossificans progressiva (FOP) is an extremely rare congenital condition that causes the body to grow a second skeleton, rendering patients immobile.

Epidermolysis bullosa is a potentially fatal, inherited disorder that causes patients to blister very easily.

Necrotizing fasciitis is a rare, life-threatening illness caused by bacteria that aggressively attack the soft tissue of the body.