Vampires are a type of being that is known in folklore for drinking human blood, being burned by sunlight, being burned by silver, vulnerable to garlic, and of pale skin. They use their fangs to drain blood, turning the host into a vampire too.

Depiction of a Vampire - Source

That is the basic description we all have of a vampire. But they never existed, even though in the past, people were convinced they did.

So, how this Myth started? And does it have any science to back that up?

Historical background & Medical Analysis incoming!
So, let's go and find out!

History

The origin was in the Middle Ages, as one could expect, because it is the period when it was mass spread in folklore.
However, opposite to how we imagined it, the spark could have been in the period of Ancient Greece!

The Scriptures of Delphi

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The story that leads the myth is up for debate. These Scriptures of Delphi are not what we expect from a normal document.
They are not recognized by any official institution, they are not found within Google Scholar; and finally, they are only found within gods-and-monsters webpage & in some pages on Blogspot or Wordpress. Which I would not consider as reliable sources of information.

Furthermore, it is said that it is not reliable as it is based on oral traditions, which as we know, tend to change a lot.
Anyway, maybe it's still worth a shot. So the story goes as follows.

Source

Everything starts with Ambrogio, an italian adventurer who met the love of his life Selena, in Greece in the temple of Apollo (the sun god).

He asked her to marry him, but Apollo was jealous and wanted her for himself. So, he cursed him by making his skin burn in the sun

Ambrogio went to the god of the underworld, Hades, and he charged him the task to steal Artemis' bow (she is the goddess of hunt). And she cursed him by being burned if he touches silver.

However, she took pity, and also gave him strength, inmortality, sharp fangs & the ability to make anyone like him by drinking their blood.

Finally, Selena reunited with Ambrogio and he turned her also inmortal.

Vlad III "The Impaler": Prince of Wallachia

This guy. He is the inspiration for Bram Stoker's famous Count Dracula.
He was born around 1430 in today's Transylvania. However, according to Professor Florin Curta of University of Florida, Vlad III never owned anything in Transylvania, instead, he was born in Târgovişte where the royal seat was and where his father (Vlad II) ruled.

As a side note Vlad III's name comes from his fathers. Vlad II was enlisted in the Order of the Dragon by the King of Hungary, earning the surname of Dracul. In Romanian, when you say "son of Drac (dragon)", you would say Drăculea, something we know as Dracula.

But why would this be important?
Well, there was a state of war while invading Wallachia, and later in time he got into power in the city of Târgovişte. In these two periods, he executed his victims and he also wanted to eliminate anyone causing troubles with his power.
But, the way he executed the victims was what also sparked the myth. As his name suggest, he impaled their victims. Meaning he will penetrate a person with a pole or a spear and take the other side from his mouth.
Not only that, he was said also the have dinner with those impaled victims & even more than that, he soaked bread in his enemy's blood to eat it.

Scientifical Explanation

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You could imagine that a being with the characteristics of a vampire cannot exist. Right?

Well... actually yes!

There is an explanation behind it and that could actually lead us to how the myth started.

We know that in the Middle Ages people tended to believe in all kind of creatures. But in this case, there are clinical symptoms of some diseases that could lead to the description of a vampire!
But no, obviously we need to be ignoring the obvious exagerations of inmortality and excessive strengths.

So, here are the (possible) explanation for a vampire's charactersitics! (Aka the diseases)

1) Hyperbilirubinemia (or adult Jaundice)

It occurs when there are high levels of bilirubin (hyper - bilirubinemia).

This compound is produced by breakdown of Red Blood Cells (RBCs) in the Liver and it looks yellowish.

The main causes of the disease are:

• Reabsorption of large patches of clotted blood under the skin (hematomas)
• Hemolitic anemias (RBCs destroyed early than intended)
• Alcohol intoxication (Liver focuses more on detoxifying alcohol)
  The main noticeable symptom is the change in skin color to yellow but the earliest sign is the change of color of the sclera of the eye.

As you can see, yellow eyes or skin are clinically noticeable.

But for a person in the Middle Ages this would be the personification of a Vampire in front of them!

Even some causes like hematoma absorption or alcohol intoxication could fit in the profile of a standard Middle Age person.

2) Porphyria

Porphyrins are a type of molecules, precursors of hemoglobin (our oxygen carrier molecule in RBCs). They are from a lot of different types and they undergo a lot of reactions to become part of hemoglobin. However, high levels can be dangerous. The precursor forms that could be present in higher amounts are involved in the enzyme deficiency to catalyze a reaction to the next porphyrin product. This means, if there is less enzyme, there is more accumulation of that substrate.

There are different types of porphyria, with different symptoms. Which range from pain in the chest & breathing problems, to vomiting blood & muscle pain. Furthermore, sensitivity to light is also present.

It is a disease that is inherited, which also adds to the myth of families of vampires sticking together.
Cutaneous porphyrias are a form which cause symptoms such as sensitivity to sunlight!
Also, the pain is described as burning & redness of the skin is also present.
Finally, but less related, could be that vomiting of blood would be confused by bloody mouth of a vampire by these people in the Middle Ages.

3) Copper (& Nickel) allergy

Unexpected, even for me. I thought there was no way somebody could be allergic to Silver in any kind of way. It didn't have sense!
Until I realised, what if it is not an allergy to Silver but to another metal?

Sterling Silver

Silver cutlery set - Source

Sterling Silver is a kind of alloy formed by 92.5% Silver and 7.5% by other metals, usually Copper. It was used as early 12th century. And (the kicker) it is used in forks, spoons & knives!

So, copper allergy. It is a condition whose research suggest that there is a link between copper & nickel reactivity on the inmune system at a molecular level. It symptoms usually are:

• Rash and itching on the skin
• Redness and dry patches of the skin
• Resemblance of a burn because of dry patches
• Blisters and draining fluid

If Middle Ages people knew this alloy was mainly Silver, they would think that is the cause and not other metals. Its redness and burnt resemblance will make it a really feasible candidate for fitting the vampire characteristics.
However, the allergic reaction will begin hours to days after exposure.

4) Garlic

Garlic - Source

It is usually portrayed in the stories that garlic is a weakness for vampires. The reason may not be clear but I will try to give a (somewhat) explanation to the fenomena.

According to some studies, garlic has been shown to increase the clotting times of blood, as it decreases the fibrinolytic activity.
Fibrin is the most important component for blood clotting as it causes the platelets to form the "plug" for covering an injury to the vessel. It is formed by the lysis (breakage) of fibrinogen from blood platelets (fibrino - lytic). That is why, if there is a decrease in breakage, there is less fibrin, and hence: less clot.

Even though this effect is not noticeable in your general life, it is interesting to see that has medical bases to stand.
However, in the Middle Ages, its supposed effect would be more related to its smell than its actually biological effect.

Conclusion

We have covered the History that lead to the creation of the myth of the vampires, and some conditions that could lead to its development among uneducated & highly religious Middle Ages people. Unfortunately, we cannot demonstrate a possible "transformation" of someone to a vampire, as these conditions are not contagious.
I don't think this would serve as the ultimate explanation of how the myth appeared and spread, but rather as a different perspective of why people believed that vampires were real. All from a clinical and historical viewpoint.

My opinion?

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I would believe that yes, all of this together were the catalysts for the apparition of vampires. But also I think that people, and above all in the past, liked to have some myth to believe in. Be it dragons, be it witches, or be it vampires.

Closing

Everything started out of a Lecture we had in porphyirin formation in which the Professor told us that yes, diseases related to blood could have been the catalyst for vampires. That made me dig a bit deeper and try to find a clinical explanation to the myth of the vampires. I hope you have liked it!
And as always,
this is @deholt, signing off!

Image Sourcing

Almost all images are from Pixabay.com under CC0 Creative Commons, free for commercial use with no attribution required.
The rest are from Wikimedia Commons, under some right reserved. Credit goes to their respective creators mentioned in the footnote.
There is only 1 image under WikiMedia Commons, which is in the Public Domain because of expired Copyright. The image of Vlad III.
The other is the image of the Yellow Sclera, made by Dr. Thomas F. Sellers, which is in the Public Domain

References

• BBC's The real-life diseases that spread the vampire myth - by Stephen Dowling for BBC
• History.com - by the Staff of History.com
• Vlad the Impaler - by Marc Lallanilla for Livescience.com
• Vlad the Impaler (Source 2) - by Alison Eldridge for Britannica
• A Natural History of Vampires
• Adult Jaundice - by Cleveland Clinic
• Porphyria - by MayoClinic.org and its doctors
• Nickel Allergy - by MayoClinic.org and its doctors
• Copper Allergy Revisited - by Wöhrl S (1), Hemmer W, Focke M, Götz M, Jarisch R.
  (1) = from FAZ-Floridsdorf Allergy Centre, Vienna, Austria.
• Effect of ingestion of raw garlic on serum cholesterol level, clotting time and fibrinolytic activity in normal subjects - by Gadkari JV(2), Joshi VD. in PubMed
  (2) = Department of Physiology, L. T. M. Medical College, Sion, Bombay, Maharashtra.