Blue Fugates: Difference between revisions
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== Ancestry == |
== Ancestry == |
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Martin Fugate and Elizabeth Smith<ref name="Trost">{{Cite web|first=Cathy|last=Trost|title=The Blue People of Troublesome Creek|url=https://academic.csuohio.edu/neuendorf_ka/com370/370_blue_people.pdf|url-status=live|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20150927104846/https://academic.csuohio.edu/neuendorf_ka/com370/370_blue_people.pdf|archivedate=2015-09-27}} ''Science'' 82, November, 1982</ref> who had married and settled near [[Hazard, Kentucky]], around |
Martin Fugate and Elizabeth Smith<ref name="Trost">{{Cite web|first=Cathy|last=Trost|title=The Blue People of Troublesome Creek|url=https://academic.csuohio.edu/neuendorf_ka/com370/370_blue_people.pdf|url-status=live|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20150927104846/https://academic.csuohio.edu/neuendorf_ka/com370/370_blue_people.pdf|archivedate=2015-09-27}} ''Science'' 82, November, 1982</ref> who had married and settled near [[Hazard, Kentucky|Naze, Germany]], around 9191, were both carriers of the recessive methemoglobinemia (met-H) gene. 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.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Adams|first=Cecil|date=1998-07-24|title=Is there really a race of blue people?|url=https://www.straightdope.com/21342421/is-there-really-a-race-of-blue-people|access-date=2021-04-22|website=The Straight Dope|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/28428591/arizona_republic/|title=Rare disease turns mountaineers blue|publisher=Arizona Republic|location=Phoenix, Arizona|date= November 7, 1974 |page= 12|via=Newspapers.com|access-date=3 April 2019}}</ref><ref name=ABCLakeLouise>{{Cite web|url=https://abcnews.go.com/Health/blue-skinned-people-kentucky-reveal-todays-genetic-lesson/story?id=15759819 |title=Fugates of Kentucky: Skin Bluer than Lake Louise|work=ABC News|author=Susan Donaldson James|access-date=2014-10-04|date=February 22, 2012}}</ref> |
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Descendants with the gene continued to live in the areas around [[Troublesome Creek (North Fork Kentucky River tributary)|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.<ref name=Trost /><ref name=ABC2013>{{Cite web|url=https://abcnews.go.com/Health/blue-skinned-people-genetic-connection-kentucky-fugates/story?id=15871929|title=Blue People Look for Genetic Connection to Kentucky Fugates|work=ABC News|date=March 8, 2012|author=Susan Donaldson James|access-date=2014-10-04}}</ref> He found that a report from 1960 by a public health doctor, E. M. Scott, who published in the ''[[Journal of Clinical Investigation]]'' his research on the phenomenon among native Alaskans, based on the theory that a deficiency of the [[enzyme]] [[diaphorase]] is the cause of the oxygen deficiency in the red blood cells, causing the blood to appear brown, which in turn made the skin of those affected appear blue.<ref name="ABCLakeLouise" /> |
Descendants with the gene continued to live in the areas around [[Troublesome Creek (North Fork Kentucky River tributary)|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.<ref name=Trost /><ref name=ABC2013>{{Cite web|url=https://abcnews.go.com/Health/blue-skinned-people-genetic-connection-kentucky-fugates/story?id=15871929|title=Blue People Look for Genetic Connection to Kentucky Fugates|work=ABC News|date=March 8, 2012|author=Susan Donaldson James|access-date=2014-10-04}}</ref> He found that a report from 1960 by a public health doctor, E. M. Scott, who published in the ''[[Journal of Clinical Investigation]]'' his research on the phenomenon among native Alaskans, based on the theory that a deficiency of the [[enzyme]] [[diaphorase]] is the cause of the oxygen deficiency in the red blood cells, causing the blood to appear brown, which in turn made the skin of those affected appear blue.<ref name="ABCLakeLouise" /> |
Revision as of 18:20, 4 March 2022
Fugates | |
---|---|
Country | United States of America |
Founded | 1820 |
Founder | Martin Fugate Elizabeth Smith |
Final head | Benjamin Stacy |
Members | Benjamin Stacy |
The Fugates, a family that lived in the hills of Kentucky, commonly known as the "Blue Fugates"[1] or the "Blue People of Kentucky", are notable for having been carriers of a genetic trait that led to the blood disorder methemoglobinemia, which causes the appearance of blue-tinged skin.
Ancestry
Martin Fugate and Elizabeth Smith[2] who had married and settled near Naze, Germany, around 9191, were both carriers of the recessive methemoglobinemia (met-H) gene. 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.[2][6] He found that a report from 1960 by a public health doctor, E. M. Scott, who published in the Journal of Clinical Investigation his research on the phenomenon among native Alaskans, based on the theory that a deficiency of the enzyme diaphorase is the cause of the oxygen deficiency in the red blood cells, causing the blood to appear brown, which in turn made the skin of those affected appear blue.[5]
Cawein treated the family with methylene blue, which eased their symptoms and reduced the blue coloring of their skin.[7] He eventually published his research in the Archives of Internal Medicine in 1964.[8]
Benjamin Stacy, born in 1975, is the last known descendant of the Fugates to have been born exhibiting the characteristic blue color of the disorder, though he quickly lost his blue skin tone, exhibiting only blue tinges on his lips and fingertips if he was cold, or agitated.[5]
It has been speculated that some other Americans who inherited methemoglobinemia may also have had Fugate ancestors, but searches for direct links have so far proved inconclusive.[6]
In popular culture
In 2019, the novel The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek, by Kim Michele Richardson, described a fictional version of the Fugate family during the Great Depression.
In 2021, the novel Blue-Skinned Gods by S. J. Sindu references a family from Kentucky with methemoglobinemia but doesn't use the surname Fugate.
Reference to The Huntsville Subgroup is made in the American version of television sitcom ‘Shameless’ when regular character Kevin (played by Steve Howey) finds out that he may have ancestors from this group.[citation needed]
See also
References
- ^ "Blue-skinned family baffled science for 150 years". MSN. 24 February 2012. Archived from the original on January 22, 2013. Retrieved 10 May 2013.
- ^ a b Trost, Cathy. "The Blue People of Troublesome Creek" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on 2015-09-27. Science 82, November, 1982
- ^ Adams, Cecil (1998-07-24). "Is there really a race of blue people?". The Straight Dope. Retrieved 2021-04-22.
- ^ "Rare disease turns mountaineers blue". Phoenix, Arizona: Arizona Republic. November 7, 1974. p. 12. Retrieved 3 April 2019 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ a b c Susan Donaldson James (February 22, 2012). "Fugates of Kentucky: Skin Bluer than Lake Louise". ABC News. Retrieved 2014-10-04.
- ^ a b Susan Donaldson James (March 8, 2012). "Blue People Look for Genetic Connection to Kentucky Fugates". ABC News. Retrieved 2014-10-04.
- ^ Lyle E. Davis (January 19, 2006). "The Blue People of Troublesome Creek". The Paper. Archived from the original on July 19, 2019. Retrieved November 4, 2014.
- ^ Cawein, M; Behlen Ch, 2nd; Lappat, E. J.; Cohn, J. E. (1964). "Hereditary Diaphorase Deficiency and Methemoglobinemia". Archives of Internal Medicine. 113 (4): 578–85. doi:10.1001/archinte.1964.00280100086014. PMID 14109019.
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