Dracula’s appearance and behavior, for example, matches with a disorder called porphyria that affects the skin and nervous system. Symptoms include sensitivity to sunlight, insomnia, and skin redness, which might make the skin look bloody.
“In the 10th or 11th century, Romanians at the time often didn’t bury their dead in very deep graves,” Greg McDonald, director of forensic medicine at Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine, was quoted as saying in a press release. “Sometimes, the bodies would shift.”
“So imagine you’re a peasant,” he continued, “and you come across a body that is pale and looks like it has blood around the mouth. You might think he’d been walking around, feasting on the blood of others.”
That’s how Porphyria helped to create the myth, which took on a life of its own via oral tradition and folktales before Bram Stoker penned his famous novel “Dracula” in 1897, bringing the tale to the masses.
Observation of individuals on drugs, as well as graveyard-shifting bodies, probably contributed to the origin of zombies.
Yet another illness that took on Hollywood proportions was the still-dreaded rabies. Its symptoms of panting and foaming at the mouth helped to inspire the Wolfman, McDonald said.
Read more at Discovery News
No comments:
Post a Comment