Appalachia's "Blue Family": bodies discolored by generations of inbreeding

[wfgodot]

Talk about blue in the face... Extraordinary story of Appalachia's 'Blue
Family' whose bodies were discoloured after generations of inbreeding (Daily Mail)

In the Appalachian Mountains rests a medical oddity so unusual that it at first seems a massive hoax.

Dating back to the early 1800s, an isolated family in eastern Kentucky - who can trace their roots back to a French orphan - started producing children who were blue.

As a result of a coincidental meeting of recessive genes, intermarriage and inbreeding, members of the Fugate family were born with a rare condition that made them visibly discoloured.
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And just when was this phenomenon first noticed by the world beyond the family's isolated area?

The family was first discovered in 1958 when one of the blue men, Luke Combs, who was a descendant of another branch of the Fugate family, took his white wife to the University of Kentucky Hospital and doctors paid more attention to him than his wife.

‘Luke was just as blue as Lake Louise on a cool summer day,’ doctor Charles H. Behlen II told the Tri-City Herald in 1974.
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medical explanations, with pictures, at link above

 

[wfgodot]

This story reminds me in a way of the fascinating 12th c. tale of the green children of Woolpit (Wiki).

 

[badhorsie]

I have never heard of this disease but googled it in images. Some amazing photos there

 

[ThoughtFox]

Having Appalachian ancestors myself who were neither inbred nor blue, I always wonder why people don't point out that the further back you go in any isolated community, the more likely it is that people are closely related.

But that story is a new one on me! I've never heard of the Blue Fugates before, although that's a pretty common name in Tennessee.

 

[wfgodot]

The Mail, ever ready to keep an odd tale going:

Meet Ben Stacy, the living descendent of the BLUE men of Appalacia - who was born discolored too but grew out of it

the story, with pictures, at link

 

[oh_gal]

Wasn't there a man on Dr. Phil a while back who was blue? (Not kidding.) I think his coloring was due to abnormal amounts of some type of heavy metal or something, in his blood.

 

[AnaTeresa]

My first thought - well it's better than Harlequin fetus. If you don't know what that is, I caution you not to google. It's a rather graphic disorder that can occur as a result of inbreeding (although not always). Blue is cool and not life-threatening.

 

[Kimberlyd125]

Wasn't there a man on Dr. Phil a while back who was blue? (Not kidding.) I think his coloring was due to abnormal amounts of some type of heavy metal or something, in his blood.

Yes!!!
I remember him.
Very blue.

 

[wfgodot]

Here's that other blue-skinned guy:

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LowTUTGOtE0"]A Guy With Blue Skin - YouTube[/ame]

 

[Kimberlyd125]

Here's that other blue-skinned guy:

A Guy With Blue Skin - YouTube

Yes, that's him. I remember I thought he looked like Papa Smurf because of the blue skin and white beard.

 

[Filly]

Isn't that why royalty is called Blue Bloods because they were inbred? Pardon my ignorance. I always thought that is what it meant.

There's got to be some blue people running around in the Pine Barrens.

My mom tells us about the time she had a birthday party and my gram invited her friend who borught her "blue baby". It was an awful disease and the little girl died early on. Not the same thing? My mom said she was blue alright.

 

[wfgodot]

Isn't that why royalty is called Blue Bloods because they were inbred? Pardon my ignorance. I always thought that is what it meant.

Here's Wiki on the matter:

Blue blood is an English idiom recorded since 1834 for noble birth or descent; it is a translation of the Spanish phrase sangre azul, which described the Spanish royal family and other high nobility who claimed to be of Visigothic descent, in contrast to the Moors. It is likely that the idiom originates from ancient and medieval societies of Europe and distinguishes an upper class (whose superficial veins appeared blue through their untanned skin) from a working class of the time.

And more at the Wiki "nobility" link ("blue blood" is about halfway down the page).

 

[Filly]

The Mail, ever ready to keep an odd tale going:

Meet Ben Stacy, the living descendent of the BLUE men of Appalacia - who was born discolored too but grew out of it

the story, with pictures, at link

They tracked him down alrightie. His children are beautiful.

Even cooler than the blueness is the name "Troublesome Creek".

 

[Elphaba]

Here's that other blue-skinned guy:

A Guy With Blue Skin - YouTube

Too much colloidal silver use, was the culprit for him...

As for all of the blue skinned people: do they look green when jaundice?

 

[Paulette]

I wanted to buy a beauty/face product that had collodial silver in it. This sounded too weird, so I googled effects of collodial silver. Your skin will will turn blue - permanently.
This was ages ago and I forget the good effect of the product - but the downside was shocking.

 

[wfgodot]

Even cooler than the blueness is the name "Troublesome Creek".

Also loved this line:

‘Luke was just as blue as Lake Louise on a cool summer day,’ Dr Charles H. Behlen II said in 1974.

 

[LunaticFringe]

My first thought - well it's better than Harlequin fetus. If you don't know what that is, I caution you not to google. It's a rather graphic disorder that can occur as a result of inbreeding (although not always). Blue is cool and not life-threatening.

Of course I have to Google it now!

 

[LunaticFringe]

:what:

 

[Kimberlyd125]

Of course I have to Google it now!

Please don't! I did. And I really wish I hadn't.
Those poor babies. Horrible.

 

[AnaTeresa]

Please don't! I did. And I really wish I hadn't.
Those poor babies. Horrible.

I had the misfortune of coming across it when doing research for biology class in middle school. Definitely shocking. I feel terrible for the families and babies who have to deal with this, although at least there have been some developments in treating it.