1.   And for those who work to ease their suffering, the disease takes a toll of a different kind.

2.   And once the disease took hold, death, if it occurred, came a day or two later.

3.   But establishing these risks is often complicated because many diseases take years to develop and may have numerous causes.

4.   By then he learned he had diabetes and had to be vigilant about his diet, but the disease took a terrible toll.

5.   Diseases also have taken a toll.

6.   For one thing, asbestos-related diseases take a long time to develop, so cases from earlier exposure will continue to crop up for decades.

7.   For starters, mad cow disease typically takes years to manifest itself.

8.   For Pat, the disease has taken its toll.

9.   How the germ is transmitted to humans determines how the disease takes hold.

10.   In its early stage, the disease typically takes a course of remissions and relapses, in which patients experience periodic flareups, or relapses, and then recover.