People who pay attention to Lao Helu should be familiar with the name porphyria. Yes, this is the prototype disease of vampires. Porphyropathy is a biological process in which human body synthesizes heme (in short, iron+porphyrin = heme). Some enzymes are abnormal, which hinders the synthesis process, so that porphyrin (a macromolecular compound) that has not been converted into heme accumulates in the body and causes cell damage. Porphyria can be inherited or caused by external stimuli or other factors.

Vampires in the sun, sparkling and frightening.

In the twilight, Edward sparkled in the sun and shocked the hearts of women. Of course, some people don't agree with this, but if porphyria is taken as an example, vampires in the sun do shine, but their appearance is definitely not pleasing.

Porphyrin is harmless in the dark, but sensitive to light. Once porphyrin is exposed to light and activated by ultraviolet rays, it will be transformed into a "carnivorous" toxin and emit fluorescence at the same time. Because porphyrin is mostly concentrated in human skin, bones and teeth, the whole person will naturally glow in the sun.

But at the same time, this toxin will corrode people's skin and gums, causing a large area of skin ulceration. In severe cases, the nose and ears may rot, the gums rot until the roots are exposed, and the teeth turn purple-brown due to porphyrin deposition.

Such a person, even if shining, is not as amazing as a vampire in a film and television drama, but more like a mummy who has not yet turned into a success. Sunlight is so painful once, so porphyria patients instinctively choose darkness.

Off-topic, there are many kinds of porphyria, except those that are sensitive to light and turn people into vampires. There are also several kinds of porphyria with symptoms of hirsutism, skin aging and scleroderma, which are considered as the prototype diseases of werewolves. It seems that vampires and werewolves are really inseparable.

Blood-sucking is out of date

Porphyria patients not only can't see the light, but also have severe anemia because of the disorder of hemoglobin synthesis. So vampires have been pale for centuries.

Therefore, porphyria patients must be supplemented with heme. But do you have to drink blood to supplement heme? Can the problems of the blood system be solved by the digestive system? This is praising the tenacious vitality of heme-heme can resist all kinds of digestive juices and be reabsorbed when it finally reaches the small intestine. Heme obtained by this method can alleviate a series of symptoms of porphyria patients, which is an important reason for the bloodthirsty of early porphyria patients.

But now, direct blood transfusion or heme infusion into the body is a better and more efficient way to supplement heme than through the digestive tract, which has become the mainstream method to treat porphyria in modern times. So vampires can keep up with the times. With modern technology such as blood transfusion, there is no need to be so bloody.

However, some people refuse to do things that can be solved cleanly. The female fitness instructor in the first season of CSI LV must eat human internal organs and drink human blood (blood, liver and bone marrow are rich in heme) ... I can only say that she is abnormal.

Porphyrin brings inspiration to the treatment of cancer.

Inspired by the behavior of porphyrin attacking cells after illumination, medical scientists designed photodynamic therapy to treat cancer. They send porphyrin analogues into cancer, and then give cancer patients special light, so that those porphyrin analogues can "silently" kill cancer cells under the light.

That's how vampires are born.

So there is.