National Organization for Rare Disorders To Partner With Discovery Health and 'MYSTERY DIAGNOSIS' for Rare Diseas...( - NORD Names Discovery Health Media P...),Health

- NORD Names Discovery Health Media Partner and MYSTERY DIAGNOSIS Program Partner for First Rare Disease Day in U.S. on February 28, 2009 -

- MYSTERY DIAGNOSIS Airs Mondays at 10PM ET/PT on Discovery Health -

DANBURY, Conn., Feb. 9 /PRNewswire/ -- The National Organization for Rare Disorders (NORD) announced that Discovery Health and its popular series, MYSTERY DIAGNOSIS, will serve as media and program partners for Rare Disease Day on February 28, 2009. This year represents the first U.S. observance of Rare Disease Day, an event designed to call attention to the public health issues associated with rare diseases affecting nearly 30 million Americans and countless others worldwide. NORD and its 145 partner organizations serve as advocates for these patients by helping heighten awareness of their conditions and the need for increased research funding for effective treatments. Information on Rare Disease Day will also be featured on Discovery Health and online on DiscoveryHealth.com.

Discovery Health's award-winning MYSTERY DIAGNOSIS chronicles the experiences of patients who suffer from conditions outside of the medical mainstream. Often the diseases profiled on MYSTERY DIAGNOSIS are the rare or "orphan" conditions represented by NORD. Each episode features patients who are initially misdiagnosed or undiagnosed altogether due to the uncommon nature of their symptoms and general lack of awareness regarding their conditions.

Ashley Kurpiel of Atlanta has been selected to serve as a patient spokesperson for Rare Disease Day. Featured on the episode of MYSTERY DIAGNOSIS premiering March 2 at 10PM ET/PT, Ashley had her arm erroneously amputated due to a doctor's misdiagnosis of her rare disease during her childhood. At the age of 3, Ashley was finally diagnosed with Fibrodysplasia Ossificans Progressiva (FOP,) one of the most disabling conditions
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