All chronic illnesses pose physical emotional challenges, but patients with rare conditions (also known as orphan diseases) typically go from doctor to doctor seeking an accurate diagnosis. The experience can be intensely frustrating: For 15 percent of people with rare conditions, it took more than five years to get a diagnosis. Even when they are diagnosed, though, there may be no reliable treatment for the condition, or no local physician with experience treating it. Often, along with dealing with their symptoms, orphan-disease patients must also devote time and energy to advocacy, as funding for such diseases is desperately needed to find better treatments or a cure.