Bollocks.
People who drink human blood
21–30 of 39 posts
Re: People who drink human blood
#22Earlier quoted context omitted.
No, because they're crazy.
they have symptoms and have found a way to improve their symptoms. they are reaosnable about it. there don't appear to be stories of assault for blood drinking (at least in the article). it doesn't really fit with craziness as in strange beliefs, delusions of grandeur, psychosis, etc. except for the ones who sleep in coffins. stay away from the ones who sleep in coffins...
They've found a pretty dangerous way of improving their symptoms, though. Depending on the underlying cause, something like an iron supplement or some psychotherapy would likely also improve symptoms in a much safer manner.
Re: People who drink human blood
#23Earlier quoted context omitted.
No, because they're crazy.
they have symptoms and have found a way to improve their symptoms. they are reaosnable about it. there don't appear to be stories of assault for blood drinking (at least in the article). it doesn't really fit with craziness as in strange beliefs, delusions of grandeur, psychosis, etc. except for the ones who sleep in coffins. stay away from the ones who sleep in coffins...
> they have symptoms and have found a way to improve their symptoms
To be fair, this is what homeopaths would also say. Without a double blind test of some sort, their conclusion is spurious.
Re: People who drink human blood
#24I could see that certain real nutritional deficiencies could be helped by drinking blood. Iron deficiency jumps to mind. It seems that there would be better alternatives to drinking blood which I would think presents a high risk of becoming infected with something far worse.
> I could see that certain real nutritional deficiencies could be helped by drinking blood. Iron deficiency jumps to mind.
Any come to mind, given that blood transports nutrients all the time. And that might explain why these "vampires" feel so gratified upon ingestion, they seem to suffer some slight chronic deficiency. Now IIRC we don't really know "all micronutrients in existence" yet so it might not even show up on a blood panel. Wonder whether any of them ever tried pig or snake blood on a trip to China/Taiwan/Hongkong (or cattle blood while visiting a Maasai tribe) and felt similarly "energized"..
Re: People who drink human blood
#25Earlier quoted context omitted.
Here in Portugal, besides the various types of blood sausages, we also have a recipe which is essentially seasoned blobs of coagulated pig blood: http://media.rtp.pt/cookoff/receitas/sangue-de-vinagrete/
In Thailand, Nam Tok is a rich soup made with raw cow or pig's blood: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nam_tok_%28food%29
In the Philippines, there is a similar type of blood stew called Dinuguan. Typically contains an array of organ meats. Not my personal favorite though.
Re: People who drink human blood
#26Bollocks.
Don't be so quick to dismiss. It sounds odd and offensive to western sensibilities but there are reasons why it could be genuine. As mentioned earlier in the thread, there are so many micronutrients in the blood stream that some deficiencies might not show up on a panel.
Re: People who drink human blood
#27I sometimes wonder if there's a fetish for bizarre, horrible and rare medical conditions on Hackernews.
Re: People who drink human blood
#28Bollocks.
[deleted]
Re: People who drink human blood
#29Why is the title editorialized? There is no serious medical condition here, well unless you count delusion.
These sound like potentially pretty serious problems:
> felt weak all the time, lacking all the energy to run and play sports like his friends
> Besides relentless fatigue, other common symptoms appear to include severe headaches and stomach cramps.
> plagued with an irritable bowel
> “I would go more than a week without a bowel movement while ‘hungry’, and feel nausea if I ate anything other than my ‘cure food’,”
I don't know what's going on, but dismissing it as delusion seems unhelpful, unkind, and untrue.
Re: People who drink human blood
#30Have the med sangs run blinded tests? I can think of two that seem worth running. One with capsules containing either blood or not-blood, and one with blood that belongs to either themselves or someone else. If you have some kind of nutritional deficiency, then drinking your own blood shouldn't cure it.
Yes, this would provide a huge signal, very quickly, and is easy enough to do that even the journalist in question could easily have run it.
If any of the interested community ends up reading this HN discussion, this is by far the obvious next step. It can even be done on yourself, with just a bit of help from a friend to do the packing, randomization, and storage of "the answer key".
And if you haven't done it yet, do a full nutrient screening, too. Some of the described symptoms sound like normal nutrient deficiencies. Just because you're eating enough of something doesn't mean you're getting enough of it in you. I've got celiac, and prior to my knowing that, my father and I both suffered from massive iron deficiency, and lately we've noticed we've got potassium deficiencies if we don't supplement. (Alas, even after giving up wheat for years, there's both some scientific evidence and our own experiences that suggest celiacs still suffer from nutrient absorption issues.)
(Emphasis on "if". I do not and can not know. If you've done it, great. If you haven't, you really should.)