What is the relevance of the zebra in EDS

This is a question I hear asked a lot in forums, so I have decided to answer it. "when you hear the sound of hooves, think horses, not zebras." this is what medical students are told when they are training. In medicine the word 'zebra' refers to a rare condition or disease, doctors are taught to look out for simple explanations for a problem, rather than misdiagnose patients with a rare one, however 'rare' conditions do exist and this makes it a lot harder to get a diagnosis and the correct treatment.
EDS is considered to be rare condition and therefore a lot of Dr's don't cover this in their training, EDS sufferer's are known as medical zebras.
The zebra has been taken on by the EDS community and is a mascot for the charities, featuring on merchandise and is referred to in articles.

You may also see images of zebras with different colour stripes, they are not all black and white. When you hear the word 'zebra' and EDS you now know the story behind it.