| From: | Gary Carroll <gary@****.COM> |
|---|---|
| Subject: | Re: Allergies and Cyberware |
| Date: | Sat, 19 Aug 1995 15:19:51 -0700 |
>> Paul Jonathan Adam writes:
>
>> I wonder about severe allergies to iron. Where does that leave a vampire?
>> You have to drink blood, but you're massively allergic to the iron in the
>> haemoglobin...
>
> Actually, where does it leave anyone? We all need blood to survive, therefore
> we all need some iron in our diets. Bummer for those who are allergic to it
> then. The answer I give to this problem is that allergies only apply to the
> "pure" substance, not the chemically combined substance. So metallic iron
> will cause the allergic reaction, but an equal amount of iron oxide (rust)
> will not.
Wait....
Allergies only occur when a substance reaches a certain level within you
body. This means that if your body requires a certain level of a substance
it now this level that you must watch and maintain. Much like a person
who needs insulin, they need insulin but too much is deadly. So if a person
was allergic to iron then they would have a threashold that would have to
be met before their body would start to adversely react.
Now lets take a bullet. The whole concentration of iron in the blood would
still not be as much iron as there is in a bullet, not to mention that
it is spread out so thinly (in the blood) that a reaction would not occur.
*now give him a couple of iron supplements and BLAMMO he'll be feeling
very ill.*
So it's not the how you get the iron it's the concentration of it.
(everybody is allergic to something... i.e. if it's not plastic,or pollen
it's the fact that your body can't process nerve gas or radiation
*an extreme example but that's on the same principle*)
Thanks
Gary C.
