1
$\begingroup$

Could a humanesque creature derive all its nutrients from drinking blood?

One of the linked question's answers talks about the vampire becoming a filtration system from humans, could the vampire filter out diseases from the blood without having an adverse effect on them and could the human survive getting back blood that was stripped down to nothing?

Stripped would mean the red cells and possibly white, were taken out, but the rest was given back.

NOTE

I do realize that stripped blood is basically saline and that we do give saline to people. What I asking is would the vampire have an effect on the process and what that effect would be.

Improve this question
$\endgroup$
3
  • 2
    $\begingroup$ Completely stripped blood is water, so no. You might need to put some more detail as to what is removed and what is left. $\endgroup$
    – Separatrix
    Commented Jan 2, 2016 at 11:37
  • $\begingroup$ @user16295 thanks for the comment and not just down-voting the question without telling me anything. Also i updated the question, and change it a bit. Does it help? $\endgroup$
    – Rayne Thomas
    Commented Jan 2, 2016 at 15:14
  • 2
    $\begingroup$ Blood with no red or white cells in it is known as blood plasma. This is significantly better than simple saline to use as blood replacement. However, as stated in the answers, it still has extremely poor oxygen transport capabilities. $\endgroup$
    – Jim2B
    Commented Jan 2, 2016 at 15:36

1 Answer 1

Reset to default
1
$\begingroup$

If "all nutrients were taken out", the remaining stuff is just water. Your survival expectation relying only on water are limited :

  • as blood replacement : without oxygen transport, you are likely to die within minutes. The lack of proper elements may also lead to osmotic pressure differences than may affect body cells.
  • as diet : real life hunger strike data has an example of death after 73 days, but this may vary greatly depending your condition.

So this is definitely not a long-term option...

Improve this answer
$\endgroup$
5
  • 1
    $\begingroup$ This is blood, not diet. You're looking at about 3mins $\endgroup$
    – Separatrix
    Commented Jan 2, 2016 at 12:43
  • $\begingroup$ @user16295 : indeed. Adjusted answer accordingly. $\endgroup$
    – Uriel
    Commented Jan 2, 2016 at 14:01
  • $\begingroup$ saline. it wouldn't be water, but saline, and we do give saline to humans. also, 10 pints of blood, vamp's taking about a pint(not very much in any case) so he would only be giving back about 55% ,if that, of the blood we took, so about half of it. assuming that you didn't milk the same human every night, the human should be fine. $\endgroup$
    – Rayne Thomas
    Commented Jan 2, 2016 at 14:19
  • $\begingroup$ If you're taking only a pint or so then you should refer to the link about hemorrhage that I put in the answer to your other question. You won't get the dehydration related effects but the rest are the same. $\endgroup$
    – Separatrix
    Commented Jan 2, 2016 at 15:59
  • $\begingroup$ @user16295 Thanks. i did have them all in one question but it was deemed to broad so i made it smaller. thanks again and i will. $\endgroup$
    – Rayne Thomas
    Commented Jan 2, 2016 at 16:18

You must log in to answer this question.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged .