Which rare conditions are treated at Releaf?

While most are well aware of conditions like chronic pain, anxiety, and depression, and their prevalence here in the UK, many aren’t as certain on which diseases are actually rare diseases, or, what the rare disease distinction actually is. 

But, don’t worry - if this is you, we’ve got you covered. Under the UK Government’s rare disease framework distinctions, a rare disease or condition is one that affects less than 1 in 2,000 people.

But, there are around 7,000 conditions that fall into this category. 

Therefore, in reality, while rare conditions are rare individually, they are actually collectively common, and those affected by rare conditions are not as small a minority as most would assume.

In fact, it's estimated that in the UK,  3.5 million people, or 1 in 17, have a rare health condition.

So, we thought it would be interesting to take a look at our own data, and see how many Releaf patients have rare conditions, and how frequently our specialist doctors, GPs, and incredible nurses encounter individuals with these conditions. 

More information on Rare Disease Day 2025

Run by Genetic Alliance here in the UK, this year’s Rare Disease Day campaign is themed ‘more than you could imagine’ and aims to highlight how everyday experiences and day to day tasks differ when you have a rare health condition or disease.  

To amplify this, Genetic Alliance UK launched an initiative to publish an anthology, or a collection of works, that depicts these experiences. They’ve been collecting pieces of poetry, short stories, paintings, drawings, and other expressive forms of art from patients, and plan to publish this collection online on Rare Disease Day. 

First, what conditions do Releaf treat most frequently?

According to data collected on the 12th of February 2025, the three most frequently treated conditions at Releaf are chronic pain, anxiety, and depression. Patients with these diagnosis make up around 50% of our entire patient base, accounting for 21.1%, 17.6% and 11.2% respectively. 

A further 20% of our patients receive treatments to help manage symptoms associated with fibromyalgia (5.2%), ADHD (4.7%), arthritis (4.4%), low back pain (3.6%) and migraines (2.5%).

Less than 2.5% of Releaf patients have PTSD, insomnia, endometriosis, cancer pain or other symptoms, and neuropathic pain. Collectively, these patients represent around 10% of those using Releaf’s services. Meanwhile, 1.3% of Releaf patients have autism, and similar figures represent those with MS related pain, Sciatica and IBS and IBD. 

Our patient community also includes those seeking treatments for eczema (0.96%), ankylosing spondylitis (0.81%), Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome (0.79%), Crohn’s Disease (0.77%), sleep disorders (0.77%), and menopause related symptoms (0.75%).

So far, 91.5% of Releaf’s patient base has been represented, and 24 conditions have been mentioned. But, Releaf treats patients with 83 different diagnosis’. 

So, what conditions do Releaf treat less frequently?

The remaining 8.5% of Releaf’s patient base is made up of patients with 59 different health conditions.

Around half of this group is made up of individuals with psoriasis (0.7%), mood disorders (0.65%), pain (0.51%), Myalgic encephalomyelitis (0.47%), ADD (0.45%), Parkinson’s Disease (0.35%), cluster headaches (0.33%), RLS (0.31%), and skin conditions (0.29%). 

This is followed by those with ulcerative colitis, gout, spasticity, OCD, CRPS, epilepsy, FND, peripheral neuropathy, COPD, Chemotherapy induced vomiting, other headaches, Tourette’s syndrome, Long Covid, Bile salt malabsorption, Trigeminal neuralgia, tremors, HIV, spondylolisthesis and Dystonia. 

When combined, the remaining 31 conditions we treat account for just 1% of our patient cohort. 

Some of these are extremely rare conditions - such as Perthés disease which is estimated to affect less than 1% of the general population, and systemic sclerosis which has a prevalence of around 3 in every 10,000 people. 

What is the rarest condition treated with medical cannabis at Releaf?

While it's hard to determine which of the 83 conditions we treat is the ‘rarest’ due to the limited amount of evidence available, and the rife commonality of misdiagnosis, prevalence statistics relating to the general population can give an indication. 

According to prevalence estimates of the conditions we treat, some of the rarest include: 

1. Chari malformation (which affects around 1 in 1,000)
2. Trigeminal neuralgia (which affects around 1 in 8,000)
3. Systemic sclerosis (which affects around 3 in 10,000)
4. Perthés disease (which affects around 1 in 10,000)
5. Sarcoidosis (which affects around 1 in 10,000)
6. Spinal muscular atrophy (which affects around 1 in 10,000)
7. Motor Neurone Disease (which affects around 4 in 100,000)
8. Still’s Disease (which affects around 1 in 100,000)

Collectively, the patients we treat with these conditions account for around 0.3% of Releaf’s community. 

Closing thoughts

While 3.5 million people in the UK live with a rare condition, because of their individual rarity, it's not unlikely for people with rare conditions to have never met another person with the same diagnosis, or, meet healthcare professionals that are well experienced in treating it. 

Rest assured, at Releaf, regardless of how common your condition is, you will be seen and treated as an individual. We pride ourselves in matching up our patients with the practitioners and clinicians best placed to treat them and their specific symptoms, and everyone is treated with compassion and care. 

If you’re curious to find out whether medical cannabis may be of benefit to your condition or symptoms, why not head over to our blog and education section for some further reading, or use our free eligibility checker to assess your suitability for cannabis-based treatments at Releaf.