Dec
9
And they call him wolfman!!
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Certain diseases that changed a persons physical apperence would have been cause for much more speculation than a disease that was mental or something that couldn’t be out right noticed. ”Freaks of nature” society generally dubs them. In the past genetic mutations were surprisingly common due to the fact of inbreeding amoung humans. And genetic mutations are passed down from parent to child in a never ending cycle.
Hypertrichosis is quite blaringly the most obvious explanation for werewolf legends. Also known as Were Wolf Syndrome, Hypertrichosis is essentially a disorder that causes extreme excessive body hair. It is genetic and can affect both men and women alike. It is characterized by thick, coarse black hair that grows all over the body like fur, especially the face. It can range from moderate to severe-severe cases being incredibly rare. An increased amount of androgens (a testosterone hormone responsible for hair growth) plays a role in hypertrichosis, but is not the direct cause for the condition. Most of the people who suffered from were wolf syndrome made their living by working for circuses and side shows, under stage names such as “Dog Boy” and “Wolf Man”. It is probably the biggest contributor to the outrages werewolf tales, due to the need to exaggerate the condition in order to draw in business. Tales of the amazing “creatures” that were “captured” traveled the countrysides. Wheather or not people believed these stories well probably never really be known, but as the old saying goes ‘theres a sucker born everyday’ 
Dec
9
Werewolves and rabies
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Werewolves are almost always portrayed as violent creatures with an incredibly high body temperature. The transformation process in most legends is described as being very painful and the werewolf will often have violent seizures while changing. Foaming at the mouth and very agressive werewolves are known for the fact that they constantly attack and kill human beings. Agreessive behavior, foaming at the mouth, high body tempertures and seizures? Not surprisingly enough these are very common symptoms to a now well known disease; Rabies.
Rabies is a virus that has been known for as early as 1930 BC, and was a condition that was most commonly associated with canines. Rabies is generally passed through saliva or brain matter, and can affect mostly every mammal in existence. Once a mammal has contracted the disease, most commonly through the bite of another infected animal, it begins to attack the central nervous system (brain and spinal cord), and causes an inflamed brain. In humans the symptoms at first are a cough and fever. This then leads to a more serious condition; excess saliva and foaming at the mouth, violent behavior, seizures and hallucinations which would eventually lead to coma and then death. Seeing as how rabies generally went hand and hand with dogs, it really is not such a far stretch to think that a person, who was exhibiting signs previously only thought to belong to canines, was ultimately turning into one. It is also the most likely explanation for the myth of being turned into a werewolf by being bitten by one.
Dec
5
Porhyria–The REAL vampire???
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There has been a lot of speculation on how vampire myths got started. Some of the most likely causes are medical conditions such as diabetes and mental illnesses. In this post I am going to explain a disease called Porphyria, which I personally believe might be the best explaniation for vampire and even werewolf legends….
Porphyria has been pin-pointed as the most likely cause for mythical creatures including werewolves and vampires. It is a metabolic disorder that affects both the skin and the nervous system. It is stems from a deficiency of the molecule heme, which is vital to ensure that the metabolism functions properly. But it is not the deficiency itself that is deadly but rather the chemical that is produced from the lack of heme, called a precursor, which is incredibly toxic to the body. Acute porphyria affects the nervous system with symptoms such as constant vomiting, neuropathy, seizures, depression, hallucinations, anxiety and paranoia. Cutaneous porphyria mostly affects the skin. People who experience this form of porphyria are extremely allergic to the sun and immediately develop blisters when exposed to it. Individuals with this disease have necrosis (death of cells in tissue) of the skin and gums and increased hair growth in specific places such as the forehead. Porphyria literally means purple pigment, which is most likely due to the fact that people who have this disease usually have purple tinted body fluids when undergoing an attack. Due to the precursor they also have red nails and teeth. While porphyria is generally inherited, it can also develop from liver failure which has been a very common ailment for centuries due to the consumption of alcohol. There is also a strong link between porphyria and mental illnesses and people who suffer from porphyria have been reported to eventually go insane due to the physical toll that the disease takes. Today porphyria is the most scientifically accepted explanation for the origins of werewolves and vampires. The links between the symptoms of this disease and the behavior exhibited in the legends of mythical creatures are very strong. It is not such a hard possibility to accept because while people may think that porphyria is rare, it is in fact surprisingly common.
Dec
5
Clinical Lycanthropy- A mental disease
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Werewolves. Shapeshifters. The name varies from culture to culture but the basic idea is the same; an human being that can transform into something much more powerful and primative. Generally, the final product is something animal like that represents a cultures fears. Of course while most cultures have vewied shapeshifters as a bad thing there are a few exceptions where peolpe who can transform into something else are generally powerful and looked upon with favor; native americans are a good example of a culture that liked the idea of people that can transform into animals.
While there are a lot of explinations for how werewolf myths came to be, in this post I am going to cover a mental disease called Clinical Lycanthropy.
Lycanthropy can be explained simply as the transformation from a human to a wolf or another animal. Clinical Lycanthropy is a mental illness where a person thinks that they are turning into another creature. Bipolar disorder and depression are both linked with clinical lycanthropy along, both which have been common illnesses for thousands of years. While there really is no direct cause for clinical lycanthropy, the section of the brain that represents body shape in the human mind, does generally show to have large amounts of activity in people who experience it. People who have this mental illness exhibit very realistic signs of the animal that they believe they are turning into; walking like the animal, making the same noises, being skittish of humans and even attacking them. People who undergo this “transformation” even adapt the diet of the animal, craving the same things that the animal does. People who were witness to this bizarre behavior would have very few explanations. It is also strongly known that people who suffer from this disease like to relate their experiences while being under the influence of it. It is very much thought that this is how the stories of the werewolf came to be. They were simply the mad ramblings of people who believed that they could turn into an animal.
Nov
29
Discovering a new species…
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A large part of my theory lies on the fact that an older population was not as knowledgeable as we are now. They didn’t completely understand how things worked or how the rules of nature conducted themselves. This lack of knowledge would cause people to explain rather simple things as something otherwordly. In this world that is full of illusions it is very easy to mistake something for other than what it is.
Just because humans are a highly advance speices does not by any means indicate that we are somehow able to keep track of every single living thing that walks or has walked this earth at some point or another. Entire species may have lived and died out and we NEVER knew that they existed. Animals that we thought were no longer in existence have constantly reappered and in numbers we didn’t think possible. It is definatly strange to see an animal that you didn’t think was existance in your backyard eating your livestock. Imagine telling that one to the town! “It had fangs and stood twenty feet tall! Sucked the blood right out of the goat I tell you!”
An artical about an unidentified species of bovid greatly helps to prove my theory in the fact that the remains of an animal that was thought to be extinct long ago was recently dredged up. It was identified as a bovid- a type of cow. The evidence gathered from the remains gave strong proof that there a more of these animals in existance and are easily living peacefully right underneath our noses.
One particular part of the article stood out to me, “There’s no way of telling just how many of the animals are still alive; MacKinnon figures the 1,500-square-mile Vu Quang forest could support a few hundred at most.”
This is a prime example of the fact that animals previously thought extinct could easily be roaming the vastness of the earth without our knowledge, not even to include any animals that branched off that particular species ultimitely creating a WHOLE new species. When it comes to genetics there really is no limit to the combinations that can be created; the possibilities are endless. It is not a completly unheard of possibilties that animals previously known only as fossiles are discovered in the flesh. Which goes to prove; dont believe everything you’re told…
Sep
29
The world of science and genetics- A brief breakdown
It’s astonishing really, when you stop to think of the medical and scientific advances that humans have made in recent years.
Diseases that were once considered deadly no longer exist. The workings of nature are no longer considered other worldly but simply a matter of science. The study of the way human and animal body’s functions have greatly aided us in our mission to discover how life works.
Our bodies are highly complex machines. They are capable of doing things that we could not even possibly imagine. Each and every living thing is made up of an exact number of chromosomes. Chromosomes are in short, our genetic makeup. They say what we look like and even what sex we are. Chromosomes live inside the nucleus of every cell- the building blocks of our bodies. Humans have exactly 46 chromosomes living inside every cell of their body. 23 chromosomes are received from each parent.
But what happens when an organism does not receive the exact number of chromosomes?
Diseases, mental illnesses, and genetic mutations occur when the number of chromosomes are not exact.
Of course not all genetic mutations are bad. They have after all allowed animals and even humans to adapt to environments that would have otherwise killed them.
But hundreds and even thousands of years ago people could not understand the abominations that were the simple result of a genetic mishap.
So what other excuse would an un-advanced society have for explaining something so unusual?
Simple.
It would be explained as something mythical and strange. Something unearthly and powerful.
And so the stories of were wolves and vampires, big foot and dragons are fabricated and told, being passed down from generation to generation.
But if you go the root of every tale and legend, you will ultimately discover that nearly each and every one can be explained by nothing other than cold, hard science.
[To be continued]