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"Blue" people in Eastern KY
#1
The other thread reminded me of some funny stuff I've heard from people that have never visited Eastern KY.

One day, my girlfriend and I were driving to Pikeville to visit with my family. On the way there, she saw the sign for Hazard and said, "Oh, that's where the blue people live."

I said, "What?"

She said, "You know the blue people. They're blue because of inbreeding."

I went on to find out that one of her friends supposedly stopped in a fast food restaurant in Hazard (they were on some kind of trip) and said that a family of blue people came in.

After laughing, I told her I have never in my whole life seen a blue person in Eastern KY and that her friend must be lying or misinformed.


Anyone seen any blue people?
[SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]
#2
^ OMG too funny
#3
Funny but sad.
#4
They're the blue people of troublesome creek. We were talking about them the other day in Biology. They do exist.
#5
Ya know, I've heard that story. and it's true. Not because of inbreeding though. It's a disease. I'll look it up.
#6
Well it's imbreeding AND a disease.. lol

http://http://www.scienceray.com/Biology...-KY.346889

The Fugate family and their unusual skin tone weave a tale of accidental inbreeding and the carrying of troublesome recessive traits for the disease methemoglobonemia, causing the family member's skin to appear a ghostly blue. The skin tone is caused not by a change in light absorbing melanin, but instead from the methemoglobin levels in the blood. Methemoglobin is naturally found in very low levels in the blood, and methemoglobonemia causes enzymes preventing a raised level of methemoglobin to not form.
The story of the Fugate family started in 1820 when a French orphan named Martin Fugate settled on the eastern bank of Troublesome Creek in Kentucky. Martin had visible methehemoglobonemia., meaning that he was the offspring of two carriers. His wife, Elizabeth Fugate (formerly Elizabeth Smith) also happened to be a carrier of the disease, although it was a recessive trait of which she was only a carrier. This means that for the disorder, Martin had an mm genotype and Elizabeth had an Mm genotype in which m = methemoglobonemia positive and M = methemoglobonemia negative, M is the dominant trait. So, if a Punnet square were created for an F1 generation it would look like this:
[Image: http://images.stanzapub.com/readers/2008/11/15/m_4.jpg]
So according to this Punnet square, 50% of Martin's offspring are expected to be visibly methemoglobonemic and all are carriers of the gene. In actuality, 4 of their 7 children appeared blue in color, so roughly 57%. Thus started the chain of inbreeding, most of the time unknowingly. In small communities it just happens sometimes. That first or distant cousins would marry each other without knowledge of any family relationship between them.
#7
The only pic I can find.. It's kinda creepy.

[Image: http://natureniche.tripod.com/pic/blueky.gif]
#8
Pic aint showing up.
#9
It's true. It was in Breathitt? i believe. But it was from a long time ago when people didn't get out and they inbreed, some scientific reasons later they had a bluish think to their skin color. I learned about it in Biology.
#10
Panther Thunder Wrote:It's true. It was in Breathitt? i believe. But it was from a long time ago when people didn't get out and they inbreed, some scientific reasons later they had a bluish think to their skin color. I learned about it in Biology.

A long time ago? There are still offspring from the original blue people living.
#11
They had a story on them on WYMT. They interviewed them and everything and they were definitely blue.
#12
PC_You_Know Wrote:A long time ago? There are still offspring from the original blue people living.
I was meaning it started a long time ago.
#13
Panther Thunder Wrote:I was meaning it started a long time ago.

K, your post was kind of confusing.
#14
PC_You_Know Wrote:K, your post was kind of confusing.
My bad haha.
#15
This is for real????
#16
The smurfs are inbred?
#17
torQQue Wrote:The smurfs are inbred?

LOL

I was thinking something along those lines, but aren't they all males with the exception of one???
#18
Stardust Wrote:LOL

I was thinking something along those lines, but aren't they all males with the exception of one???

Smurfette originally started out as a male. A bad science experiment gone awry by papa smurf. If i am not mistaken. Someone look it up.
#19
Stardust Wrote:This is for real????

I doubt it is anymore. We have had the television and internet/myspace up in these hills for a couple years now, people finally realizing there is life beyond the mountains. Big Grin



Seriously though, I have no idea if it is real or not. I have never met any inbred people. If turning blue is a possible mutation that can occur from inbreeding, then there would have to be more documented cases across the world, especially in small tribes that still exist?
#20
I found a real blue person. I remember watching this on a discovery channel documentary..

Quote:Paul Karason of Madera, CA, has argyria, which makes your skin blue. People get it when they use colloidal silver as an antibitoic.

Read entire article here.
http://boingboing.net/2007/12/20/another...turns.html
#21
torQQue Wrote:I found a real blue person. I remember watching this on a discovery channel documentary..



Read entire article here.
http://boingboing.net/2007/12/20/another...turns.html

I had seen the story about this gentleman on Discovery. Interesting.
#22
Quote:THE BLUE PEOPLE OF TROUBLESOME CREEK

The story of an Appalachian malady, an inquisitive doctor, and a paradoxical cure.

full story
http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~kyperr...Creek.html
#23
lol oh.. i thought we were talking about the blue people who play the drums.. The Blue man group lol
#24
torQQue Wrote:I doubt it is anymore. We have had the television and internet/myspace up in these hills for a couple years now, people finally realizing there is life beyond the mountains. Big Grin

Seriously though, I have no idea if it is real or not. I have never met any inbred people. If turning blue is a possible mutation that can occur from inbreeding, then there would have to be more documented cases across the world, especially in small tribes that still exist?

It is absolutely true. I have seen a whole family of "blue" people with my own eyes. They were in Lexington at the time visiting a relative at the UK hospital, but were from somewhere in eastern KY, not sure what county.
SHELBY VALLEY WILDCATS - 2010 KHSAA STATE CHAMPIONS

[SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]
#25
The belue people in Kentucky are very true. And if Im not mistaken there supposedly from Knott County. I didnt belive it when I heard it from my boss who is originally from there but I did my research and yes they do exist.
#26
The one I saw in Hazard wasn't BLUE but you could tell that something was unusual about her skin tone. Probably a descendant. I asked someone about it, they referred me to look up the story about the blue people. Definitely true.

#27
are there pictures from any media stories. Seems like there should be.

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