Editor’s Note (November 2026): When we first published this article in 2014, we explored the intriguing possibility that porphyria might explain the origins of vampire legends. As it turns out, there’s considerably more to the story, and some of the claims deserve a closer examination. For a more thorough investigation of the medical evidence, the folklore, and the science behind the theory, see our new article, The Vampire Disease: How a Real Medical Condition Got Blamed for Dracula. We’ve dug a little deeper this time, and the results are worth sinking your teeth into.
Porphyria: Making Your Nightmares Into Reality
Oversensitivity to sunlight, painful skin redness and blisters when exposed to sunlight, garlic causing agonizing abdominal pain, receding gums giving the appearance of fangs – sounds familiar? It’s not hard to deduce that these are the characteristics of vampire. These are also the symptoms of Porphyria, a group of genetic disorders that result in a buildup of chemicals called porphyrins produced in the body because of disruption in the heme production. Heme is an iron-rich component of hemoglobin that gives the blood its red color.
This, like many other strange diseases is not curable but it is managed through regular blood transfusion.
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