Kita sering mendengar bahwa yang namanya Drakula atau istilah kerennya juga Vampire tuh adalah makhluk yang hidup dari meminum darah manusia normal. Selain itu, di beberapa tempat, makhluk ini bahkan disebut Methusalah. Di alkitab, Methusalah adalah nama dari orang yang hidup terlama, dan umurnya mencapai lebih dari 800 tahun. Selain, itu, banyak cerita tentang makhluk ini, bahwa vampire dan drakula sebenarnya berasal dari jaman setelah dark age, di mana masih banyak kerajaan-kerajaan primitif saling menyerang.
                Selain minum darah manusia, ada juga pendapat umum bahwa vampire dan drakula tidak bisa terkena sinar matahari, dan mereka akan terbakar jika terkena sinar matahari. Kenyataannya, ada juga, lho, manusia normal yang kulitnya bisa terbakar hanya karena terkena sinar matahari. Itu terjadi karena mereka mengidap penyakit XP. Bukan salah satu type OS Windows, lho. XP atau Xeroderma pigmentosa adalah jenis penyakit yang membuat pengidapnya mengalami penurunan kemampuan perbaikan sel akibat perusakan sinar UV. Akhirnya, penyakit ini bahkan dapat membuat pengidapnya mengalami kanker kulit.Kasus ini dapat terjadi 6 kali lebih banyak pada bangsa Jepang dari bangsa-bangsa yang lain.
                Penyakit ini membuat penderitanya sama sekali tak boleh terkena sinar matahari, karena bagian kulit yang terkena matahari akan terbakar dan menyebabkan bagian itu tak dapat diperbaiki lagi. Lebih jauh lagi, si penderita dapat terserang kanker kulit. Kasus ini walaupun jarang telah dimasukkan di sejumlah film seperti The Others, Moonlight Bay Trilogy, dan Taiyou no Uta.

Ditulis ulang dari artikel yang dikirim oleh Valentine

Yang lebih terkenal... Albino.
Harus sangat hati2 dengan matahari.

Bedakan Dracula dengan Vampire. Dracula adalah nama sosok vampire, atau vampire Lord, dalam banyak kisah/mitos Dracula. Lebih khusus lagi, Dracula adalah nama Vampire Lord dalam novel Bram Stoker. Diduga sosok Dracula diambil dari sosok Dracula asli (Dracula=son of dragon), Vlad Tepes, sosok penguasa yang menentang invasi pasukan Turki di Eropa timur, khususnya Hungaria-Rumania

Kutip dari: Huriah M Putra pada Agustus 02, 2010, 06:59:26 PM
Yang lebih terkenal... Albino.
Harus sangat hati2 dengan matahari.

Hati2 betul,  baca2 dulu di sini :

UV radiation

This fact sheet explains the types of ultraviolet radiation and the various factors that can affect the levels reaching the Earth's surface. The sun emits energy over a broad spectrum of wavelengths: visible light that you see, infrared radiation that you feel as heat, and ultraviolet (UV) radiation that you can't see or feel. UV radiation has a shorter wavelength and higher energy than visible light. It affects human health both positively and negatively. Short exposure to UVB radiation generates vitamin D, but can also lead to sunburn depending on an individual's skin type. Fortunately for life on Earth, our atmosphere's stratospheric ozone layer shields us from most UV radiation. What does get through the ozone layer, however, can cause the following problems, particularly for people who spend unprotected time outdoors:

* Skin cancer
* Cataracts
* Suppression of the immune system
* Premature aging of the skin

Since the benefits of sunlight cannot be separated from its damaging effects, it is important to understand the risks of overexposure, and take simple precautions to protect yourself.


Did You Know?
Ultraviolet (UV) radiation, from the sun and from tanning beds, is classified as a human carcinogen, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the World Health Organization.


Types of UV Radiation

The stratospheric ozone layer screens out much of the sun's harmful UV rays.

Scientists classify UV radiation into three types or bands—UVA, UVB, and UVC. The ozone layer absorbs some, but not all, of these types of UV radiation:

* UVA: Wavelength: 320-400 nm. Not absorbed by the ozone layer.
* UVB: Wavelength: 290-320 nm. Mostly absorbed by the ozone layer, but some does reach the Earth's surface.
* UVC: Wavelength: 100-290 nm. Completely absorbed by the ozone layer and atmosphere.

UVA and UVB radiation that reaches the Earth's surface contributes to the serious health effects listed above; it also contributes to environmental impacts. Levels of UVA radiation are more constant than UVB, reaching the Earth's surface without variations due to the time of day or year. In addition, UVA radiation is not filtered by glass.


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Silakan baca juga :

Sunbeds And UV Classed As Definitely Cancer-Causing
29 - Juli - 2009

Global health experts have moved use of sunbeds and exposure to ultraviolet radiation (including sun exposure) to the highest risk category for causing cancer: they now join agents such as tobacco, asbestos and benzene in being classed as "carcinogenic to humans" whereas before they were classed as "probably carcinogenic".

The move follows a new report reviewing available research that found that starting to use sunbeds before the age of 30 increased a person's risk of developing the deadliest form of skin cancer by 75 per cent. Other agents have also been moved to the highest risk category following the report.

The findings that led to the decision by the World Health Organization (WHO) International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) to reclassify the cancer risk of sunbeds, ultraviolet (UV) radiation, and other agents, are published in a Special Report in the August issue of The Lancet Oncology.

The report was written by Dr Fatiha El Ghissassi and other IARC members based in Lyon, France, on behalf of the WHO IARC Monograph Working Group.

The IARC reviews the latest research and assigns one of five risk categories to different agents such as chemicals and types of radiation as follows:

* Group 1: The agent is carcinogenic to humans.
* Group 2A: The agent is probably carcinogenic to humans.
* Group 2B: The agent is possibly carcinogenic to humans.
* Group 3: The agent is not classifiable as to its carcinogenicity to humans.
* Group 4: The agent is probably not carcinogenic to humans.

The IARC panel that met to review the evidence that led to the new Group 1 classifications comprised 20 experts from 9 countries. Their meeting was in June this year, and they also identified the tumour sites and mechanisms of carcinogenesis of the agents.

Their assessments will be published as part D of Volume 100 of the IARC Monographs.

The Special Report describes why sunlamps and sunbeds, and UV radiation, which were previously classified as Group 2A: "The agent is probably carcinogenic to humans", are now in the highest group, Group 1: "The agent is carcinogenic to humans".

The authors said people in many developed countries now make regular use ultraviolet radiation (UV) emitting tanning devices such as sunbeds and sunlamps, especially young women.

As a result of a "comprehensive meta-analysis" of the available research, they concluded that:

"The risk of skin melanoma is increased by 75 per cent when use of tanning devices starts before 30 years of age."

A meta-analysis is a way of pooling the results of several studies and analysing the data as if it came from one large study. Researchers using this method also have strict criteria for including and excluding studies: for instance if its design is questionable then a study is left out of the analysis.


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satu lagi.....erythropoietic protoporphyria