1. As if debilitating joint pain (and other symptoms) aren't bad enough, oral and genital ulcer symptoms of Behcet's often lead to mis-diagnosis as STDs.
2. It's called "The Silk Road disease" because there is a greater prevalence in the Middle East and Central Asia, along the former trading route that carries its name.
3. What causes the disease is unknown, but it usually appears in people in their 20s and 30s.
4. Behcet's is an autoimmune disease, which means the body's immune system mistakes healthy cells for invading diseases and infections, attacking them and causing an inflammatory reaction.
5. Behcet's Disease Uveitis is considered to be the most severe form of Non-Infectious uveitis, due to the risk of developing retinal vasculitis, which can lead to blindness in as quickly as 2 weeks.
6. It gets its name from Hulusi Behcet, a Turkish dermatologist who in the 1930s noticed the disease's three signature symptoms in patients: eye inflammation (which can lead to blindness) and lesions in the mouth and genital area.
7. No cure exists, although treatments are available to alleviate some of the symptoms.
8. About 20,000 people in the U.S. have been diagnosed with the disease. While globally it affects men more than women, the reverse is true in in the U.S.
9. Behcet's can cause infertility in males, but in women, pregnancy can ease some of the symptoms. However, other women experience miscarriages because of the disease.
10. The disease killed a patient on the fictional TV Show "House."
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