To mark Rare Disease Day, Inspire releases The Road to Diagnosis
In recognition of International Rare Disease Day 2011, Inspire has compiled first-person narratives in a new report, The Road to Diagnosis: Stories from Patients with Rare Diseases.

PRINCETON, NJ, February 22, 2011 /24-7PressRelease/ -- A key challenge for patients with rare diseases is getting an accurate and timely diagnosis. "It's frustrating because I'm just learning as I go," is how one 34-year-old man with tuberous sclerosis describes living with his rare disease.

In recognition of International Rare Disease Day 2011, Inspire has compiled first-person narratives in a new report, The Road to Diagnosis: Stories from Patients with Rare Diseases.

The compilation, drawn from a selection of Inspire's 170,000 members of its online patient support communities, is available free online at www.inspire.com.

Joyce Graff, founder and Executive Director of the VHL Family Alliance, a worldwide network of support groups for individuals and families affected by von Hippel-Lindau, a genetic tumor syndrome, wrote the foreword to the report. Graff, a former member of the board of the National Organization for Rare Disorders, wrote, "As we approach Rare Disease Day, every one of us needs to know the power of persistence, the power of collaboration, the power of asking questions."

Brian Loew, CEO of Inspire, noted that the narratives contain some frustration and fear, but also resolve and hope. Loew noted the story by a 35-year-old Iowa woman named Dawn, who wrote, "I grieve for the person I was before being diagnosed and I'm working on who I'm supposed to be now. I'm sick a lot, but on the good days, I see so much more of what' s important and a little purpose of what I am."

February 28 will mark the fourth International Rare Disease Day coordinated by EURORDIS and organized with rare disease national alliances in 25 countries.

CONTACT: John Novack, Director of Communications, Inspire, john@inspire.com. Follow Inspire on Twitter at http://twitter.com/teaminspire and on Facebook at www.facebook.com/inspiredotcom.

Press Release Contact Information:

John Novack
Inspire
Communications Director
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Princeton, NJ
USA 08540
Voice: 703-243-0303
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