Above you see a photo where some people, members of the Fugate Family of Kentucky, have a bluish tinted skin. For years there was a mystery about blue skinned people; was it a hoax or did they really exist? Some believed they existed, but did something to make themselves blue. Some felt it was a kind of disease. In that, they were closer to being right. I have the real story for you on this page about what scientists have discovered about blue skinned people. Yes, they really do exist.
The Story Begins Near Hazard, Kentucky.
In 1800, a French orphan named Martin Fugate settled down in a community near Hazard, Kentucky with his new, pale skinned bride Elizabeth Smith Fugate. Unknown to the couple, both carried a recessive gene known as methemoglobinemia (met-H.) This tongue tangler of a name, belonged to a recessive gene that had the odd ability to turn skin a pale blue. It’s a blood disorder in which an abnormal amount of methemoglobin — a form of hemoglobin, which distributes oxygen to the body — is produced, according to the National Institutes for Health. This creates a lack of iron in the blood, giving the person who has the disorder a blue tint to their skin.
Intermarriage Deepened the Hue
The area in which the Fugates lived was rather isolated from other communities, and as a result, there was much intermarriage within their own gene pool. Geneticists have long known intermarriage is not a good thing, since weak, recessive genes are made stronger with the birth of each person who carries the gene and marries someone else with the same gene. With each successive birth, the children of such a union often result in mental or physical disabilities, or as in the case of the blue skinned people, the shade of their skin deepened with every generation. Since they all lived in and around the same area into the 20th century, their habit of intermarriage continued just as it always had. This resulted in fewer light skinned people and more blue skinned people.
In Time, A Treatment Was Found
The extended family came under the scrutiny of a nurse, Ruth Pendergass and a hemotologist, Dr. Madison Cawein III. Together they researched the background of the family members, and found a way to help them cast off their blue coloring. They were treated with supplemental oxygen and a compound called Methylin Blue. Methylin Blue restores the iron in hemoglobin to its normal, oxygen carrying state.
But Wait! There’s More To The Story.
There’s another cause of skin becoming blue, a condition known as ARGYRIA: resulting from chronic intake of silver. There are two different types: Localized Argyria, which is topical and affects only the part of the body where silver and silver dust continually come in contact over a long period of time, and Generalized Argyria, which results from chronically swallowing or inhaling silver compounds, either for medical purposes, or as a result of working with silver or silver compounds. Silver can damage eyes by depositing in the lens of the eye, though it has no effect on the eye conjunctiva.
Have You Ever Seen A Blue Skinned Person?
As travel has become easier over the years, and communities traveled to other areas, there’s less intermarriage, and the prevalence of the recessive gene that causes the disease has waned, resulting in fewer blue skinned people.
Below are medical and science textbooks about the condition of methemoglobinemia in case you want to know more.
This is just fascinating! I live in Kentucky now, so I’ll have to add Hazard to my list of places to explore (probably won’t go looking for blue-skinned natives though!)
Hi Karen, thanks for your visit and comment. They say that the residents of the communities around Hazard no longer seem to have the blue hue, because they’ve married folks who don’t have the gene, so their children are getting further and further away from inheriting the condition. So, you probably wouldn’t see any blue folks anyway. 🙂
Well Nancy, this is quite fascinating – I do love the stories you feature here, they’re always way out there in the oddities department! Blue skin?? can you imagine that for even 1 day of our life? My gawd that had to be rough, but heck if people were scared, they could have played that card to the hilt too! Interesting to read about the medical conditions that triggered this. On the bright side, blonde hair, blue eyed and blue faced could work a little, umm ..no. lol.
Barbara, I’m so glad you visited this page. It really is an amazing part of history, and I’m sure there are these genes still floating around. Fortunately they’ve been diluted now, since the communities don’t intermarry anymore. But it sure is a strange part of our history, isn’t it?
Never heard of this before. Interesting story.
No matter how weird something seems, there’s always a logical explanation (whether we are able to understand it or not).
Thanks for sharing.
Nancy, genetics (epigenetics in particular) is one of my areas of academic interests so when you had my hooked when you mentioned Met-H. I was not familiar with this condition though. Fascinating.
You write about the most interesting things. I love the mystery!
Iris, I’m honored that you visited Mystery in the History (MITH.) These are my all-time favorite things to write about. If you ever come across any sort of mysterious, odd or curious story you’d love to write, I’d be even more honored to have you do a guest spot here on MITH. Thanks for the visit.
Nancy,
I will keep my antennae up for you.
I would love to guest blog! Thank you so much. I’ll send you an email.
Have a wonderful day. 🙂
Iris
Thanks Iris, I know whatever you come up with will be a surefire winner!
I would have thought it was just a bad photo. LOL Quite fascinating!
Well Lisa, it IS an old photo after all, LOL! But this is a true condition, and the only photo I could find of people who have the condition from the gene pool, not from ingesting silver. There was a fellow who had blue skin from taking silver internally every day of his adult life, but I didn’t really like that photo either! So…back to the original one of the Fugates. Thanks for the visit, appreciate it so much!
Wow! I lived in Kentucky for a few years and do not recall seeing anyone with blue skin. I am not surprised by the intermingling through intermarriage though, as there were a lot of locals where I lived who had that going on within their families on occasion!
Ruth, I’d heard of them for years, and was born and raised for some of my young years in Kentucky. Never saw one, but they say if I’d gone to Hazard, and some of the communities near it, I would have seen them. Thanks my friend, for the visit.