What is vlad syndrome

Poor oxygenation leads to destruction of facial tissues, and collapse of the facial structure. Patients understandably avoided mirrors.

Some of these accused vampires were innocent sufferers of porphyria. Porphyria patients had good reason to fear the Christian faith and Christian symbols. Acute attacks of the disease are associated with considerable pain, and both mental and physical disturbance.

Nowadays, with our scientific knowledge of porphyria, instead of fearing these folks, we can love and care for them.

Porphyria remains incurable, and treatment is mainly supportive: pain control, fluids and avoidance of drugs and chemicals that provoke acute attacks.

Some success has been achieved with stem cell transplants. However, physician, researcher and author George Harley had described a patient with porphyria a few years earlier. Through his gothic novel, Stoker surely wins the prize for the best example of myth entangled with medicine! This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license.

Check back with our fatty acid oxidation blog frequently for more helpful information. By Jerry Vockley T February 5th, Go to Top. As a result, these fats are not converted to energy, which can lead to the characteristic signs and symptoms of this disorder such as lethargy and hypoglycemia.

Very long-chain fatty acids or partially metabolized fatty acids may also build up in tissues and damage the heart, liver, and muscles. This condition is inherited in an autosomal recessive pattern , which means both copies of the gene in each cell have mutations. The parents of an individual with an autosomal recessive condition each carry one copy of the mutated gene, but they typically do not show signs and symptoms of the condition.

Genetics Home Reference has merged with MedlinePlus. Learn more. The information on this site should not be used as a substitute for professional medical care or advice.

Contact a health care provider if you have questions about your health. Very long-chain acyl-CoA dehydrogenase deficiency.

Sufferers shun bright light because it irritates their skin and hurts their eyes. Their skin tightens and shrinks, and when this occurs around the mouth, the canine teeth appear to be more prominent, suggestive of fangs. Discoloration of the skin also gives sufferers a very pale appearance and, fittingly, garlic exacerbates these symptoms, so it should be avoided at all costs.