This means that Hairy cell leukemia, or a subtype of Hairy cell leukemia, affects less than 200,000 people in the US population. Ophanet, a consortium of European partners, currently defines a condition rare when it affects 1 person per 2,000. They list Hairy cell leukemia as a rare disease.
In fact, some of the oldest alphabetic symbols have been found in Central America (2,500 years ago), China (more than 3,000 years ago), and the Middle East (more than 5,000 years ago). One of the earliest forms of the alphabet was hieroglyphics. Hieroglyphics were single symbols that stood for entire words.
Each letter of the alphabet represents one sound in our language. By combining these letters, it's possible to represent an unlimited number of words. Many different alphabets have been used around the world throughout history. Often, new alphabets are created by modifying the alphabet of another language. The Latin alphabet (also called the Roman alphabet) is the most widely used alphabetic writing system in the world today. This is the system on which the English alphabet is based.