Mystery Solved: ‘Blue Faced’ Appalachian Family Caused by Rare Medical Condition
- Posted on February 16, 2012 at 5:07pm by
Buck Sexton
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The Daily Mail has posted a bizarre story about a family near the Blue Ridge Mountains that actually turned blue.
Here are the key elements of this mystery that persisted for decades:
- Backwoods Kentucky family started producing blue-colored children sometime in the 1800s
- Four of seven children were blue and they intermarried with a nearby family
- Intermarriage led to insular gene pool that allowed replication of rare gene
That right, some members of this family of Appalachian Mountain folks turned blue because of a rare medical condition.
The isolated eastern Kentucky family– the Fugates– can trace their roots back to a French orphan who began producing the blue children.
”It began when Martin Fugate, a French orphan, settled on the banks of eastern Kentucky’s Troublesome Creek to claim a land grant in the early 19th century. He married a red-haired American named Elizabeth Smith – who had a very pale complexion – and their union formed a genetic mutation that resulted in their descendants being born with blue skin.”
When you look at the portrait above, it appears to be a fake. Modern science, though, has an explanation, and it’s something of a scientific wonder.
The blue-faced condition comes from a “Genetic mutation that reduces individual’s ability to carry oxygen in blood.” The condition is called methemoglobinemia (generally referred to as met-H).
Think about the bluish veins visible in the wrist of of some people– and now extend that principle to an entire body. As a result, the blood of people with this condition is darker and more blue-hued than the color usually found running through the human body.
Thanks to this physical oddity, the Fugates became true Appalachian blue bloods.
According to the Mail, as a result of “a number of recessive recessive genes, intermarriage and inbreeding, members of the Fugate family were born with a rare condition that made them visibly discolored.”
The mystery, it appears, has been solved after all these years.
Because the rural Kentucky area in which the Fugates lived offered few opportunities to expand the gene pool, intermarriage allowed the rare met-H gene to come into contact with other carriers much more frequently.
In 1958, the Fugate family was discovered when one of the blue men, Luke Combs, took his wife to the University of Kentucky Hospital. Luke was apparently much more interesting to the doctors than his wife was.
Doctor Charles H. Behlen II said ‘Luke was just as blue as Lake Louise on a cool summer day,’ to the Tri-City Herald in 1974.
Eastern Kentucky
Other than the discoloration of skin, the Met-H condition poses no health risks or issues. There is even a cure of sorts for the condition that was discovered in 1980.
When a person who has turned blue from Met-H drinks a chemical-filled solution that is also blue, the Met-H carrier’s blood turns to a ‘normal’ red hue, which then is reflected in the coloration of the skin and facial complexion.
The solution only lasts for 24 hours at a time, so to stay rosy red, a Met-H carrier has to drink one glass of blue goo a day.
Today eastern Kentucky has a vastly larger population, and the condition has for all intents and purposes disappeared.
The recessive met-H gene continues on, however, unknown to its carriers and could perhaps one day result in another blue blood family somewhere else in the world.
For more details on the history of the Fugate’s and their rare condition, the Daily Mail has more here.
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Comments (76)
Sheepdog911
Posted on February 16, 2012 at 6:14pmAh man … they should have been fom the Blue Ridge mountains.
Report Post »oldoldtimer
Posted on February 18, 2012 at 1:34pmLook up Melungeons. Why is there people in East Tn that speak an unknown language? They are white and were there when the first white man arrived.
Report Post »randy
Posted on February 16, 2012 at 6:14pmLooks like a hand tinted image to me. Maybe pigments shifted color over time just like your 1950′s photographs all turn yellow orange?
Report Post »teamarcheson
Posted on February 16, 2012 at 8:14pmThe people of Kentucky are big talkers, they talk until they are blue in the face.
Report Post »ScreaminEagle
Posted on February 16, 2012 at 9:49pmGeee
Report Post »Cesium
Posted on February 16, 2012 at 11:08pmWow, a mutation causes blue skin in 200 years… wonder what can happen in 200,000,000 years?
Report Post »ShyMan
Posted on February 17, 2012 at 7:30am@cesium
No one knows what would happen in 200,000,000 year.
Earth is not that old. :)
Report Post »aircommando
Posted on February 17, 2012 at 2:51pmSHYMAN
If its not 200,000,000 years old then how old is it?
How about 4 1/2 billion!
You base your assumption on faith, I prefer science.
I look to the White House and wonder how long ago it was that the wookie dropped out of the trees.
Report Post »timber wolf
Posted on February 16, 2012 at 6:13pmIt was on one moonlight night
Report Post »Stars shining bright
Whisper on high
Love said goodbye
Blue moon of Kentucky keep on shining
Shine on the one that’s gone and left me blue.
sndrman
Posted on February 16, 2012 at 7:57pmgreat great great song love it
Report Post »supressorgrid
Posted on February 16, 2012 at 6:09pmI hear they don’t send crime scene investigators to murders in Kentucky cause everyone has the same DNA.
Report Post »oldguy49
Posted on February 16, 2012 at 6:48pmyea but i bet they are not trying to get the students to sing……………there is no god but allah, and i bet cair has not been there either
Report Post »1casawizard
Posted on February 16, 2012 at 7:47pmYou mighta heard wrong. Believe half of what you see, nothing what you hear.
Report Post »Macman1138
Posted on February 16, 2012 at 8:42pmNot funny.
Report Post »chips1
Posted on February 16, 2012 at 6:06pmJackson and Sharpton just lost their minority excuse. That should clean up the welfare list.
Report Post »Gumbercules
Posted on February 18, 2012 at 1:28amLaugh Out Loud!
Report Post »SpankDaMonkey
Posted on February 16, 2012 at 6:06pm.
Report Post »Mystery Solved: ‘Blue Faced’ Appalachian Family Caused by holding their breath’…….
ToddinVB
Posted on February 16, 2012 at 6:18pm“Honey, you could talk to those Hatfield‘s until you’re blue in the face… oh, wait…”
Report Post »Kiba
Posted on February 16, 2012 at 5:52pmIm sure photography was at its best back when this picture was taken too. But when your sister is your mother and your uncle is your dad and your little brother is the best you ever had who knows huh? lol! I see one “Kentucky virgin” in the lot tho, thats a 13 yr. old girl that can out-run her 14 yr. old brother.
Report Post »MittensKittens
Posted on February 16, 2012 at 5:50pmIt has nothing to do with genetics, they were holding their breath waiting for the “hope and change”!
Report Post »1casawizard
Posted on February 16, 2012 at 7:43pm@MITTENS. Are you smitten with an idea that these people could hold their breath and hope for change? Please mittens, go easy.
Report Post »simplygilly
Posted on February 16, 2012 at 5:45pmLong term inhalation or absorption of silver powder or silver compounds also causes deep blue skin coloration. I went to work for a silver powder manufacturer in the late 1960′s before such hazards were known and face masks the standard in such work environments. At the time, there were a few 30+ year employees with skin the color of the AT&T logo.
Report Post »so3
Posted on February 16, 2012 at 5:43pmThis is likely Argyria, a reaction to exposure to silver. Why is this such a mystery? My wife met the world famous guy who has this, he’s been on Oprah and whatnot.
Also, the ‘backwood’ moniker is pretty stupid. I have known many people you Blaze people would cal ‘backwood’ who could buy and sell you like bread. Remember, intelligence has nothing to do with sophistication.
Report Post »1casawizard
Posted on February 16, 2012 at 6:22pm@SO3. You might be right. It could be as a reaction to silver. I went to grade school with a girl in N.C. whose skin was pale blue. She was normal and no one made a big deal out of it. The “backwood”moniker might sound stupid to some folks, but when you grow up in the woods it does not matter. You appreciate the woods and not much to the city or DWTS. The mess in our government affects everyone now. It does not matter how far in the woods you are. This is like a circus with no shortage of clowns. We have to know who we are voting for no matter what they look like. We need new blood with our elected officials for the most part.
Report Post »so3
Posted on February 17, 2012 at 12:22pm1CASA… My frustration with the backwoods comment is that The Blaze aka a bunch of early twentysomethings, has yet to understand that as a journalist you must always be above reproach and must refrain from using words that can be construed as injurious or demeaning, no matter how common the word or benign the intent. I didn’t have to go to journalism school to learn this; I got out before they were able to do any serious damage, but I know from empirical data that if you can make HOW you say something immune to criticism, WHAT you are saying is taken with much more gravity. This applies to any story from a high school football game to policy and government.
Best.
Report Post »Polarized America
Posted on February 16, 2012 at 5:40pm……………………….”Blue Moon of Kentucky Keep on shinein”………………………………………
Is that song about them dropping their pants and bending over …..lmao
sorry, but i could not resist ..;-O
qpwillie
Posted on February 16, 2012 at 5:48pmEverything in Kentucky is blue; Blue Moon Of Kentucky, Kentucky bluegrass, Blue Kentucky Girl………..
Report Post »Polarized America
Posted on February 16, 2012 at 5:50pmQP ………. I love Kentucky, I lived there back in the 70′s. The Eastern part, in the Mountains
Report Post »qpwillie
Posted on February 16, 2012 at 6:05pm@Polarized America
I love it too. Beautiful place and good people. I played some fun gigs in Bowling Green back in the 70s.
Report Post »spirited
Posted on February 16, 2012 at 6:05pmBlue Ridge Mountains
Where Smurfs originated.
Report Post »1casawizard
Posted on February 16, 2012 at 7:56pm@PolarizedMF. Is this funny to you? This ain’t the joke forum on CL.
Report Post »godhatesacoward
Posted on February 16, 2012 at 5:40pmSmurftacular, that is just smurfy!
Report Post »Tars_Tarkas
Posted on February 16, 2012 at 5:38pmFugates loosely translated from its native Kentuckian Mountain tongue means “I can hold my breath for a really, really long time”.
Report Post »DD313
Posted on February 16, 2012 at 5:31pmIs this condition really so rare? Aren’t we having a metH epidemic?
Report Post »Guttersmack
Posted on February 16, 2012 at 5:39pmAh ha ha. Always nice to start the comment reading with a good chuckle.
Report Post »Rayblue
Posted on February 16, 2012 at 5:30pmMoonburn.
Report Post »JohnTwoFeathers
Posted on February 16, 2012 at 5:29pmI hear they are very fugal
Report Post »skitrees
Posted on February 16, 2012 at 5:27pmI’m still skeptical. The 1970s “doctors” claimed Bigfoot was roaming Canada.
Drinking too much silver solution can cause you to turn blue. Since early history, man has used silver as a remedy for various maladies. Unless I see a lot more details – I’m going to remain skeptical on this one. This sounds like a Bigfoot story to me. Roughly 90% folklore, 8% scam, 1% goofy doctor, and 1% gullible people. I’m open to further details or proof though.
Report Post »beachcomber1017
Posted on February 16, 2012 at 5:27pmWhat kind of makeup could use?
Report Post »qpwillie
Posted on February 16, 2012 at 5:27pmAm I blue?
Report Post »Am I blue?
Ain‘t these tears in my eyes tellin’ you?
lukerw
Posted on February 16, 2012 at 5:26pmThere was a Blue Girl… on a Star Trek episode… Nice!
Report Post »smokeyridgerunner
Posted on February 16, 2012 at 5:26pmCan a black man and a white woman have spotted kids?
Report Post »Twobyfour
Posted on February 16, 2012 at 7:54pmStrippy-tabby, like kittehs, that would be fun. Humans are boringly monochromatic. I don’t count blotches.
Report Post »Anonymous T. Irrelevant
Posted on February 16, 2012 at 5:22pmHere come the “inbred hillbilly” jokes.
Report Post »burnteye86
Posted on February 17, 2012 at 4:03amReally. I’m waiting for the banjo jokes myself. I would rather be sleeping under the pines of the “backwoods” than under the streetlamps of Wall Street.
Report Post »Snowleopard {gallery of cat folks}
Posted on February 16, 2012 at 5:22pmInteresting indeed.
Report Post »Kaoscontrol
Posted on February 16, 2012 at 5:16pm‘Blue’ isn’t politically correct: They prefer to be called ‘INDIGO-AMERICAN’.
or ‘Avatar-American’….’Smurf-American’?
Report Post »lukerw
Posted on February 16, 2012 at 5:28pmOr Obama State supporter!
Report Post »skitrees
Posted on February 16, 2012 at 5:29pmI wonder what we should call the orange horse in the picture…if the picture is offered as “proof” then I’m thinking the photo was taken on mars. ;^)
Report Post »DD313
Posted on February 16, 2012 at 5:14pmSo the naturally blue Fugates’ cure was fugitive in nature?
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