lotus

previous page: 16 How does one become a vampire?
  
page up: Vampires FAQ
  
next page: 18 I've Heard That Vampirism Is REALLY Due To a Vampire Retrovirus. Is This True?

17 What is porphyria, why is it called "The Vampire Disease"?




Description

This article is from the Vampires FAQ, by BJ Kuehl bj@alpha1.csd.uwm.edu with numerous contributions by others.

17 What is porphyria, why is it called "The Vampire Disease"?

Porphyria is actually a group of diseases, all pertaining to the
metabolism of porphyrin rings that, along with iron, are responsible for
the oxygen-carrying properties of hemoglobin--the red ingredient in
blood. Porphyria is a very rare genetic disorder and is not contagious.
It may have developed among the European nobility due to inbreeding.

In a 1964 article in the _Proceedings of the Royal Society of Medicine_,
it was proposed that porphyria might be an explanation for werewolf
legends. Twenty-one years later, chemist David Dolphin presented a paper
at a meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science,
proposing that porphyria might explain vampire legends. It was later
refuted by other professionals, due to the fact that the only form of
porphyria which could have been likened to vampirism was the rarest
form, occurring in very few people throughout history.

So why the link between porphyria and vampirism? One of the varieties of
porphyria, congenital erythropoietic porphyria, has among its symptoms:
severe light sensitivity, reddish-brown urine and teeth, mutilation of
the nose, ears, eyelids, and fingers, an excess of body hair, and anemia
(compare these symptoms with the description of Stoker's Dracula). In
addition, some kinds of porphyria are associated with epilepsy. However,
there is no evidence that porphyrics have any sort of craving to drink
blood and, although it has been conjectured that eating garlic might be
harmful to them, it is not.

In short, the hullabaloo over porphyria and vampirism was simply a media
overreaction which negatively affected the lives of porphyrics by
associating them with vampirism. In one instance, for example, a woman's
husband left her because he was afraid he would be bitten in his sleep
and have his blood drained by her. So please, take a grain of salt along
with anything you hear about porphyrics as vampires.

 

Continue to:













TOP
previous page: 16 How does one become a vampire?
  
page up: Vampires FAQ
  
next page: 18 I've Heard That Vampirism Is REALLY Due To a Vampire Retrovirus. Is This True?