Enduring a Rare Disease With No Cure

By BEN DOBBIN, Associated Press Writer, Medicine & Health / Diseases

Dr. Jonathan Mink tests the reflexes of Batten disease patient Raymond Ricketts of Reading, Pa., during an examination at Strong Memorial Hospital in Rochester, N.Y., Thursday, July 12, 2007. Batten disease is caused when defective genes fail to make enzymes needed to dispose of waste made by brain cells. The waste piles up in the brain and kills healthy cells until the patient dies. There are some 500 cases in the United States and most victims die in their teens and early 20s. (AP Photo/David Duprey)

(AP) -- All three of Darlene Royalty's daughters began to go blind at age 8, victims of a rare and brutal brain disorder with no cure.

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