61.   He was born with retinitis pigmentosa, a rare disease that is usually developed after birth.

62.   His son was found to have progeria, a rare disease that causes premature aging.

63.   His wife, Joyce, is paraplegic because of a rare disease that struck her brain and spinal cord when she was a young mother.

64.   His withered right leg, which suffers from a rare circulatory disease, survives day to day, searching for even ground.

65.   In addition to relatively common illnesses like asthma, attention-deficit disorder and breast cancer, there are on-line support groups for rare genetic diseases.

66.   In some ways, rare diseases affect everyone.

67.   In rare diseases, maternal or paternal genes related to placental growth are knocked out of action.

68.   In the days after anthrax killed a Florida tabloid editor, Americans have endured a crash course in the rare disease, including how doctors detect it.

69.   In the past few years, some advocates for Americans with rare diseases have felt that their cause is being shortchanged.

70.   Increased travel between the United States and Mexico has led to an increase in dengue fever, a rare tropical disease.