Latest / Skinfluence with Dr. Dustin Portela
Featured Episode - Halloween: Vampires, Werewolves, and the Real Skin Conditions Behind the Myths
Every Halloween costume has an origin story. Some of the scariest ones, it turns out, came from actual patients.
This special Halloween episode of Skinfluence starts with a dermatology fact that sounds like fiction: the vampire myth may have a legitimate medical explanation. Porphyria cutanea tarda, a disorder of heme production, forces sufferers to avoid all sunlight, causes extreme blistering burns from even brief sun exposure, leads to gum recession that makes teeth appear fang-like, and in some cases produces urine so dark it resembles blood. Dr. Portela and Austin unpack how this…
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