Origin of Vampirism?

Although medical publications contain examples of clinical vampirism (the compulsive desire to self-mutilate and drink said blood, affinity with the dead, and uncertain identity) it is unlikely that this was the cause for the myth to be started. I believe it is more likely that the myth of vampirism developed out of a communities mounting worry over a disease they were interacting with daily. Because of their understanding of medicine included aspects of magic, eighteenth through nineteenth century villagers used their belief in fables, such as vampires, to explain the unknown. Although various diseases and ailments ravaged parts of Europe during this time period, a discongruity exists between the cause for such diseases and villagers explanations for them; often times a lingering disease was seen to have a supernatural cause, with the first victim usually called a vampire. The vampire belief has always been one of contagion. The term Nosferatu, popularized by Bram Stokers Dracula, is an archaic term derived from the Greek word Nosophorus, which closely translates to Plague Carrier. 

Multiple diseases have been linked to the genesis of Vampire folk lore such as Tuberculosis, Rabies, and Erythropoietic protoporphyria (EEP). These diseases do not satisfactorily present clinical signs that would’ve been necessary to instigate such a wide-spread folklore. Although my interest is not to medicalize a myth, pellagra, a dietary deficiency in niacin and tryptophan, makes an interesting argument for the being the originator of the Vampire Myth. First recognized in 1735, pellagra was a source of scourge of Europe and then the United States. It is still infrequently seen in scatter populations around India, Southern Africa, and Egypt. 

After Maize was introduced Eastern Europeans started rapidly growing it in large quantities because it had the most calorie per acre. It was also sturdier and more delicious than rye or wheat. Where corn went pellagra was sure to follow, for cornmeal became the main source of energy for poor people of that time. For years, an infectious or genetic cause was suspected, but pellagra is generally the consequence of a diet which relies upon corn as a staple because niacin and tryptophan in corn are bound and have poor bioavailability. Clinically the diseases is identified by the four D’s- Dermatitis, Dementia, Diarrhea, and Death. 

Our current vampire image has its origin in the folklore and literature of Eastern Europes in the early 1700s. Published in 1897, Stokers work is renowned for combining all of the European folkloric beliefs into one persona. Because Dracula is so popular I will refer back to it and other Eastern European folklore to argue that European pellagra epidemics were responsible for the vampire belief. 

Dermatitis

The dermatological consequences of pellagra suggest a relationship with vampire folklore. Pellagrins (sufferers of pellagra)  have an extreme hypersensitivity to sunlight, if exposed to sunlight they will experience hyperkartosis and erythema. After repeated exposure to sunlight pellagrins skin will become paper-thin and have the texture of parchment paper. Early in Dracula, Stoker characterizes the Count who had avoided sunlight and went out only at night as a man of 'extraordinary palor' without 'a speck of color in him'. 

Additionally those suffering of pellagra will experience glossitis and excessive redness in the mouth. The tongue will swell and because of that pellagrins tongues are often indented with teeth marks. Similarly, pellagrins develop an inflammation of the lips which become severely cracked and red, reflective of Stoker's description of Dracula's lips which showed 'remarkable ruddiness' and 'the ruddy colour, the voluptuous lips' of the three vampire brides. 

Dementia

Because niacin is no longer available for the metabolic process, neurons in the brain degenerate with development of dementia. Clinical symptoms include insomnia, anxiety, unjustified anger, depression, and sundowning.  These symptoms are characteristic of the folkloric vampires who do not sleep at night and are morose or irritable. Perhaps because of such unpredictable behavior from those infected with pellagra, villagers became to fear the possibility of a violent attack in the night.

An often overlooked aspect of pellagra is that pica may occur concurrently, perhaps as a desperate attempt to include niacin into the diet. And in Dracula, Dr. Stewart describes Renfield as being zoophagous (life-eating) because he eats flies, spiders, and sparrows. Although Reinfeld is maniacal, his obsessive craving could be considered an extreme case of Pica. 

Diarrhea 

This is never explicitly discussed as an aspect of vampirism, however one would expect a lack of references in nineteenth century literature that refer to such bodily excretions. According to legend, vampires need not consume food for they survive purely off of blood. In reality, anorexia, weight-loss, and refusal to eat was common among pellagrins due to mucous membrane lesions forming in the oesophagus, stomach, and colon.  In Dracula , the Count continually  apologizes for not dining with his guest Harker: “You will, I trust, excuse me that I do not join you; but I have dined already, and I do not sup” Later in the novel, Mina Harker says: “I could not eat; to even try to do so was repulsive to me”. In addition to dysphagia, circumstances such as poverty, poor hygiene, and inadequate cooking methods were probably all too common among pellagrins, further worsening their diseased state. These factors also promoted the risk for parasitic infections, reflective of the vampire's legendary association with vermin. 

Death 

Historically, allegations of  vampirism were from communities that had a great number of people dying of chronic disease. Vampire folklore says that those who die leave behind relatives and friends with whom they have an unfinished agenda with, strong emotional connections cause the recently deceased to exit their graves and seek vengeance against family and neighbors who mistreated them during life. If pellagra was the cause of death then that means all the villagers were sharing a common diet and as consequence their own development of pellagra would’ve been interpreted as the dead returning to enact their revenge. 

More Evidence 

Additional reasons from Dracula and folklore connect pellagra with the vampire belief. In 1734 the term Vampire was added to the Oxfords English Dictionary, just one year before that a Royal Physician noted pellagra as a ‘disgusting, indigenous disease among only Spanish peasants’.  And before reaching Castle Dracula, Harker consumes a breakfast including ‘ a sort of porridge of maize flour which she said was  “mamaligia”’. Besides water, mamaligia has cornmeal as its main ingredient. If this meal was consumed by the majority of Eastern Europeans it’s easy to reason that many suffered from pellagra. 

Often referred to as ‘the spring-time disease’ pellagra increased in the spring when the new crops were not yet ready and cornmeal was a large part of the diet. According to tradition, St. George’s Day, in late April or early May, was the day on which vampires would gather at the edges of a village to plan their wicked revenge. To complement the association of spring with the vampire myth, Jonathan Harker is told upon his arival in Transylvania: “It is the eve of St. George's Day. Do you not know that tonight, when the clock strikes midnight , all the evil things in the world will have full sway?”

Conclusion

Was pellagra responsible for instigating the vampire myth?  For now I cannot fully answer that question. Although one could argue that inadequate intake of several essential nutrients could cause symptoms of glossitis, anemia, anorexia, and pica, considerable historical events indicate that pellagra was more wide spread than any other diseases caused by deficiencies in water-soluble vitamins. 

Because all legends change with time, one cannot reconcile all aspects of the vampire myth with the evidence from pelagra. For example, pellagra does not account for the use of the Crucifix, the Eucharist wafer, or holy water, which have long been cited as protective against vampires (even though folkloric vampires never reacted violently to the Cross). These aspects of the myth may have been developed by clergy members and vilagers who assumed that those who became ill and died were heretics receiving punishment for their sins. Furthermore, the pious reasoned that very sinful people, such as alcoholics (who probably had a poor diet), were most likely to be vampires and would return from the dead. 

Even though the practice was forbidden by the Church, hysterical communities did dig up graves to examine bodies for evidence of vampirism. Not surprisingly, almost all exhumations yielded a perceived vampire. Most frequently, a reputed vampire's face would be recorded as being red and marked with fresh blood. Interestingly, the second tell-tale sign of vampirism was a ring of cornmeal around the mouth of the deceased. As odd as this association with vampirism is, perhaps the villagers understood the lack of nutrition more than we think they did.

Hope you enjoyed my long-winded pointless view on vampires and how I think they originated :) see ya next week