h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Porphyria, I've found, is a much more likely disease that "vampires" suffered from. It's a genetic disease, characterised by abnormalities of porphyrin metabolism and results in EXTREME SENSITIVITY TO SUNLIGHT. Other symptoms include REDDISH TEETH and urine caused by excretion of large quantities of porphyrins in the bones and urinary tract. Some foods, such as GARLIC, cause alergic reactions to the sensitive skin.
Check this out more about this fasinating disease! It's worth it.

A disease exists similar to that you mentioned, Xeroderma Pigmentosum (a genetic disorder, in actuality, not a "disease", per se). It renders the victim(?) extremely photosensitive and, upon occasion, requires massive transfusions of...you guessed it...blood.
I have heard speculation that it was this disorder that originally led to the vampire myth, however Vampire myths are too commonplace and Xeroderma Pigmentosum too rare to believe that there is a genuine connection.

There is also the connection between vampirism and Syphillis (sp?) that is highlighted in the works of Bram Stoker.

If you know anythin about Porphyria...plz help. I have tried ALL the available information........hopeless....no cure?....NO WAY.

help if you can??

Thanx

You might like to have a look at http://web.uct.ac.za/depts/liver/
I myself have porphyria and I have found the info on that site extremely useful - it belongs to the University of Cape Town where they have a Porphyria Unit.
I have printed pout their list of unsafe drugs and it goes with me every time I go to the doctor, the dentist or the pharmacy.
Anna

The link to porphyria is largely wrong. For one it disregards a large chunk of legend(for example the whole nonsense regarding sunlight is not part of myths it was completely invented by movies). Also some of the most basic symptoms of porphyria don't jive well with the myth(ie the extreme hairyness common to many cases or the purple urine from which the disease gets its name).

Depends what you mean by "nonsense regarding sunlight".


"Vampires burning up/turning to dust on exposure to sunlight" may be a movie invention (at least, I don't know of any pre-movie examples).

In Bram Stoker's "Dracula" (as in the original book), Dracula was able to walk around in daylight unharmed, although his special powers were disabled while he did so, and if he had changed into another form (bat, wolf, etc), then he would be stuck in that form until night. (Lucy-as-a-vampire was much more desperate to get back in her tomb before sunrise. It was never explained why she was different, nor what would happen to her if she was caught out).

I know very little about the original legends, although "evil, unholy things only come out at night / must return to hiding before sunrise" does seem to be a common theme in many myths.

Yes Dracula was weaker in sunlight but it didn't harm him. Mythical vampires acted mostly at night although some exhibited limited mobility during the day. The person who invented the poryphria theory was basing his conclusions on the idea of a very intense reaction to sunlight(common to the disorder) some thing absent from the mythology.