Blue People: Family of Troublesome Creek
Martin Fugate and his wife Elizabeth Smith moved onto the bunks of Troublesome Creek, an area in Appalachian Kentucky. Martin and Elizabeth together had seven children. The family tried to hide out in the mountains because of the blood disorder that they carry with them. The blood disorder makes their skin turn blue. The blood disorder of how and why the family’s skin turns blue.
Some facts about the blue people of Kentucky. The family has lived in the mountains in Kentucky. The two people had seven children together, but four of their children are blue. Martin and Elizabeth both carry a recessive gene that turned four out of the seven of their children blue. Doctors believe the reason for this is because …show more content…
One person could inherit the gene, but not get the blood disorder, but it could still be passed on to an offspring. The gene would probably appear in an inbred line.”(Blue People Genealogy 7) Martin Fugate carried the gene and the odds that he could have married a woman with the same recessive gene which is what happened. But Cawein was able to find an antidote for the blood disorder. The antidote would work quickly, but patients were required to take daily doses as it passes quickly through the urine. Cawein said that “Within a few minutes, the blue color was gone from their skin” (Stacy Conradt 5) It might have worked for a little while, but people with their blue skin still spent a long time trying to find a solution for their …show more content…
Methemoglobinemia, the hemoglobin is unable to carry oxygen and it also makes it difficult for unaffected hemoglobin to release oxygen effectively to body tissues. ”It can also turn the people’s lips purple and also makes the skin look blue”. (James 2) Most people have less than 1 percent of the disorder. When the level rises to 10-20 percent the result is blue-tinged skin. The genetic condition did not seem to have any notable health impact, it did affect the Fugate family psychologically, causing them to retreat from public life. What the doctors also found out is that the blue people’s blood is just a little bit closer their
Martin Fugate and his wife Elizabeth Smith moved onto the bunks of Troublesome Creek, an area in Appalachian Kentucky. Martin and Elizabeth together had seven children. The family tried to hide out in the mountains because of the blood disorder that they carry with them. The blood disorder makes their skin turn blue. The blood disorder of how and why the family’s skin turns blue.
Some facts about the blue people of Kentucky. The family has lived in the mountains in Kentucky. The two people had seven children together, but four of their children are blue. Martin and Elizabeth both carry a recessive gene that turned four out of the seven of their children blue. Doctors believe the reason for this is because …show more content…
One person could inherit the gene, but not get the blood disorder, but it could still be passed on to an offspring. The gene would probably appear in an inbred line.”(Blue People Genealogy 7) Martin Fugate carried the gene and the odds that he could have married a woman with the same recessive gene which is what happened. But Cawein was able to find an antidote for the blood disorder. The antidote would work quickly, but patients were required to take daily doses as it passes quickly through the urine. Cawein said that “Within a few minutes, the blue color was gone from their skin” (Stacy Conradt 5) It might have worked for a little while, but people with their blue skin still spent a long time trying to find a solution for their …show more content…
Methemoglobinemia, the hemoglobin is unable to carry oxygen and it also makes it difficult for unaffected hemoglobin to release oxygen effectively to body tissues. ”It can also turn the people’s lips purple and also makes the skin look blue”. (James 2) Most people have less than 1 percent of the disorder. When the level rises to 10-20 percent the result is blue-tinged skin. The genetic condition did not seem to have any notable health impact, it did affect the Fugate family psychologically, causing them to retreat from public life. What the doctors also found out is that the blue people’s blood is just a little bit closer their