She worked in book publishing for several years, and believes that books can open up new worlds. In an unusual story that involves both genetics and geography, an entire family from isolated Appalachia was tinged blue. Not myth or legend; The Blue People of Kentucky were an isolated enclave of Appalachian people who lived with an embarrassing skin discoloration until a young hematologist took notice and found a solution. The doctor hiked through the Appalachian hills, on a mission to find the famous blue people of Kentucky. As a result, four of their seven children exhibited blue skin, and continued progenation within the very limited local gene pool ensured that many descendants of the Fugates were born with met-H.[3][4][5], Descendants with the gene continued to live in the areas around Troublesome Creek and Ball Creek into the 20th century, eventually coming to the attention of the nurse Ruth Pendergrass and the hematologist Madison Cawein III, who made a detailed study of their condition and ancestry. For a hundred and fifty years, locals in the area of Hazard, Kentucky were stumped by a group of people. This is sometimes called “blue baby syndrome” and those who have private water systems are at higher risk of nitrate exposure and therefore higher risk of the syndrome. Vitamin C has also been used to reduce cyanosis temporarily. Fast forward to the seventies and Benjamin Stacy has just been born. It was a military doctor and hematologist by the name Madison Cawein, who figured out what was ‘wrong’ with the blue people and treated them. Normal methemoglobin levels are less than 1%. In fact an entire family from isolated Appalachia were blue. Be sure to jot down important information as to how these people turned blue. Neighbors laughed at the family’s blue coloring and most avoided the Fugates. Facebook . Sit back, relax, and read the amazing but true genetic tale of the Blue People of Kentucky. The Blue People of Kentucky aren’t limited to Benjy and Luna. Scientists were quite intrigued as to the cause of the blue skin (cyanosis) in the Fugate family. As the Fugates spread out geographically over time and generations, the disease was less likely to be passed on but also harder to track. In 1960, he decided to move near Troublesome Creek in the hopes to meet one of them some day. Related Love Makes Us More Intelligent, According to Neuroscience. This is especially true of the ‘Blue People of Kentucky’. [7] He eventually published his research in the Archives of Internal Medicine in 1964. A sad recent example is the Stemming from French immigrant Martin Fugate, who moved to Kentucky in 1820, the blue people were to become legends in their own right. The True Story of David Ghantt and the Loomis Wells Fargo Heist. Deep in the woods of Kentucky, a fiercely private family gave birth to blue-skinned children since the 1800s. Our new student and parent forum, at ExpertHub.PrepScholar.com, allow you to interact with your peers and the PrepScholar staff. Original source unknown, via ABC News The Blue Fugates are shown in this colorized black and white photo. Image: via NClark Illustration of Martin Fugate and his family. ACT Writing: 15 Tips to Raise Your Essay Score, How to Get Into Harvard and the Ivy League, Is the ACT easier than the SAT? This will usually go away on its own. 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