Why Do These People Crave Blood?

Morbius might get negative reviews, but the Marvel / Sony film has some science behind it. Will drinking or swapping blood cure any kind of disease?

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Script:
As a biochemist, Morbius actually has a lot in common with real-world scientists. For one, he’s not the first to explore human blood as a cure for diseases. Though, of course, no real scientist has ever turned themselves or a patient into a living vampire through these attempted cures. And, so far, none of these attempts have actually cured any illnesses–though we are getting closer. But these trials do show the level of fascination that humans have had with their own blood over the centuries. And we’ll get into that, but first, are we sure vampires aren’t real?

Yes, we are. However, there are people who act a lot like vampires. The vampire myth is thought to have originated as an explanation for certain unpleasant diseases that mimic vampire traits. For instance, what is now known as porphyria causes rashes or blisters to develop on the skin when exposed to sunlight. And rabies causes light sensitivity, aggression, and biting.

And while there’s no evidence that anyone has actually needed to drink human blood to live, people have been drinking it since the first century AD to try to cure illnesses, particularly epilepsy. The belief in the curative properties of blood was either linked to religion, from the testimony of a cured patient, or even by a doctor.

Today, people who drink human blood are called “sanguinarians,” or “real vampires.” Unlike our blood-hungry ancestors who drank the blood of people who were recently killed, today’s sanguinarians drink the blood of willing donors believing that it will cure an illness or make them stronger.,

Clinically, their compulsion to drink blood is referred to as Renfield’s syndrome, named after a character in Dracula. It’s a very rare disorder and