What is porphyria vampire disease?

Porphyria cutanea tarda (PCT) is a type of porphyria or blood disorder that affects the skin. PCT is one of the most common types of porphyria. It’s sometimes referred to colloquially as vampire disease. That’s because people with this condition often experience symptoms following exposure to sunlight.

What causes porphyria attacks?

Anything that stimulates the enzymes in the porphyrin pathway that leads to a rapid increase in porphyrins can cause acute porphyria attacks. Some common triggers are alcohol, some medications, liver disease, smoking, cannabis, and hormonal changes (such as those women experience during the menstrual cycle).

What’s a porphyrin?

Porphyrins are chemicals that help make hemoglobin, a type of protein in your red blood cells. Hemoglobin carries oxygen from your lungs to the rest of your body. It’s normal to have a small amount of porphyrins in your blood and other body fluids. But too much porphyrin may mean you have a type of porphyria.

What does porphyria stand for in medical terms?

Porphyria is a group of diseases in which substances called porphyrins build up, negatively affecting the skin or nervous system.

Can a person have porphyria and never have symptoms?

You might have what’s called latent porphyria, and never have symptoms. This is the case for most carriers of the abnormal genes. Porphyria cutanea tarda (PCT) typically is acquired rather than inherited, although the enzyme deficiency may be inherited.

What kind of disease is porphyria cutanea tarda?

That means one or both of your parents passes a mutated gene to you that leads to the disease. One common type of cutaneous porphyria, known as porphyria cutanea tarda, is sometimes passed through genes but can also be what doctors call an “acquired disease.” In that case, certain conditions or actions can trigger symptoms of porphyria.

What kind of pain does porphyria variegata cause?

porphyria variega´ta (variegate porphyria (VP)) a hereditary, autosomal dominant, type of hepatic porphyria characterized by chronic cutaneous manifestations, notably extreme mechanical fragility of the skin, particularly areas exposed to the sunlight, and by episodes of abdominal pain and neuropathy.