Rayith the Archangel
Vampires are real. Unlike those are in the movies, some do walk in daylight but not for too long either they just have some sort of weird condition that makes them literaly cook in the sun I forgot what its called. We if you seen The Others, you know what im talking about. They have a tendency for blood because blood to them, is life. Such as humans are to water.
There are three conditions which are nowadays considered to be linked to myths about vampirism. The most common is
anemia, which causes sufferers to have low red blood cell counts. Because red blood cells carry oxygen around the body, people with anemia often don't get enough oxygen which tends to cause pallor, fainting spells and difficulty eating. It's thought that In Ages Past(tm) these symptoms may have been interpreted as meaning someone had suffered an attack by vampires or other miscellaneous supernatural evils. Anemia is occasionally hereditory, and sometimes caused by severe illness (usually kidney failure) or loss of blood. It is treatable, but not by drinking blood and neither do anemics feel the need to injest blood. Certain things I've read suggest that in the past people may have attempted to treat the symptoms by drinking blood, but honestly I'm not sure how 'accurate' this is and how much it's just people making stuff up. It's possible anemia is just as misunderstood as vampirism in general.
The second condition is
porphyria. Porphyria isn't any single one disease, but a group of about eight that all have reasonably different symptoms but are caused by a sufferer being unable to produce sufficient quantities of porphyrins. Porphyrins include heme, which is a vital component in red blood. Congenital Erythropoietic Porphyria (CEP) causes a sufferer's skin to become hypersensitive to sunlight -- blistering and scarring -- and may result in anemia due to red blood cells having a shortened life span. It may also cause increased hair growth, tightening of the lips and gums resulting in more prominent teeth and the possible loss of facial features and fingers (due to phototoxic burning). Porphyria Cutanea Tarda (PCT), Erythropoietic Protoporphyria (EPP) and Variegate Porphyria (VP) also may cause light sensitivity or damage. Porphyria is often treated by injecting heme; a major component in red blood. It is so rare that it is still considered a 'mysterious' disease even today.
Finally, the third condition is
catalepsy, which causes a loss of voluntary muscle movement as well as a general slowing of the metabolism to the point that a sufferer may well appear dead to an untrained eye. Catalepsy can last from minutes to hours. Most tests to determine whether or not someone is actually dead (as well as prolific corpse embalming) are modern creations, so it's entierly possible people suffering cataleptic attacks were prematurley buried in the past. Obviously upon recovering they would have tried to dig their way out of their graves.
I haven't actually seen
The Others, but from reading reviews of it on IMDB I think the children in the film suffer from a seperate genetic condition called
xeroderma pigmentosum (XP), which causes photosensitivity (severe burns in even indirect sunlight). It has no known cure or treatment -- other than staying out of the sun -- and it not actually related to porphyria. But sensationalising either of these debilitating condition as 'vampirism' is in my opinion in incredibly bad taste; do a search for them on Google and check out some pictures of skin deformities caused by phototoxins and you'll see what I mean.
I needs to be pointed out that all of these conditions may have contributed to the emergence of the vampire myth in history, but
the sufferers themselves are not vampires and anyone who suggests they are deserves a smack. People suffering from these real and legitimate medical conditions should
not in any way be confused with people who drink blood for psychological (usually psychosexual) reasons. There is
no known medical condition of 'vampirism', unlike what I've read on some lifestyle advocacy sites. It is a psychological disorder or predeliction.
If you like to drink blood or soul and call yourself a vampire; good for you. I occasionally sacrifice candy to the Norse god Loki so I'm hardly going to pooh-pooh your particular beliefs; but at least be honest about it. You do it because something psychological or psycho-spiritual is calling on you to, and it gives you some kind of emotional fulfilment; but it's not a 'disease' anymore than belief in a diety. And for gods' sakes stop debasing real and chronic illnesses by pretending it is.
(Of course, the question that's
not answered here is do I believe in supernatural quasi-demonic beings known as 'vampires'. To which my answer is; I believe in a lot of things, but as supernatural archetypes, not as anyone I'm actually ever going to meet in a bar. I believe in vampires int he same way I believe in Gods or faeries or the monster under my bed; abstractly.)
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