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July 19, 2002

Strange but True!

Q. In search of the roots of vampirism and werewolfism, modern science has looked recently past gas- bloated corpses shifting in shallow graves (the "undead") and rabies victims (males bite, are hypersexual and shun mirrors) to a rare inherited disease called "porphyria." Explain.

A. People with this blood condition (porphyria = purple) wind up with lesions throughout the body, especially when exposed to sunlight, "a reason perhaps why vampires were said to hide in dark basements or coffins during daylight hours," says Elaine N. Marieb in "Human Anatomy & Physiology." Unfortunate victims were once shunned or deemed mentally ill (the Dutch painter Vincent van Gogh).


 
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