Rare disease day at the Capitol

HARTFORD, Conn. (WTNH) -- Thursday was 'rare disease day' at the Connecticut Capitol.

There are 7,000 rare diseases, which are defined as diseases that affect less than 200,000 people.

That means 30 million people in the U.S. are afflicted with some form of rare disease, about one in ten people.

"My daughters both live their lives with a rare disease called Friedreichs Ataxia and it's one in 50,000 people in the U.S. that have it and I feel events like this help to bring about awareness and make it a little less lonely," said Mary Caruso of North Branford.

Fore more information, visit www.rarediseases.org