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"Erythropoietic porphyria, once termed vampirus bacillus, is a disease of the human body which renders it unable to extract iron from food when eaten. The main symptoms are: a sallow gaunt appearance; the eyes are affected by light and develop a red appearance which is slightly phosphorescent; if exposed to daylight, the eyes swell and the skin explodes into huge blisters; the teeth are often a deep red.
Excess growth of hair can occur on the face, eyebrows and other parts of the body. Sometimes the person will even be driven insance. Haemoglobin break-down in the body occurs over a period of ten days, while the intake of garlic speeds up the process of this incurable condition, eventually proving fatal.
It seems that one of the main reasons sufferers were labelled 'vampires' in the past, is the fact that an intake of blood staves off these terrible symptoms for a short period.
Directly or indirectly, the cause of erythropoietic porphyria is exposure of the human body either to the naked sun-beam or to other sources affected by the active chemism of the Sun.
The disease itself is no respecter of colour, class or creed, and while the intake of blood which has a substance in it that contains iron and stops the porphyrins (the secondary cause of the disease) building up in excessive amounts, it does not cure the 'vampire curse' nor prevent it from being inherited.
Medical experts estimate a possibility of as many as one hundred severe cases, and around six thousand who are suffering from the milder form of this macabre disease."
The Porphyrias Charitable Trust, 30 St Vincent Crescent, Finnieston, Glasgow G3 8LQ was formed in 1992 to provide relevant information to children and adult sufferers, their physicians, and the general public, and also to provide specially designed housing for those suffering from congenital porphyria, which is a very rare, inherited and typically recessive skin condition. Other forms of porphyria may be brought on by excessive use of alcohol, or by the use of certain drugs.
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