Richard D. Sontheimer: “inveterate curiosity” is the fundamental character trait of a “doctors’ doctor”

Despite occurrence over a small percentage of the population, rare diseases are often chronic and life-threatening. Around five new rare diseases are described in medical literature every week. The National Institutes of Health (NIH) Genetic and Rare Diseases Information Center lists autoimmune connective tissue diseases (CTD) such as lupus erythematosus (LE) and the idiopathic inflammatory myopathies as rare diseases.