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The Fugate Family

circa 1830s

To avoid attention from the public...

Where it all began

The Fugate and Smith families retreated to the forest along the Appalachian Mountains.

Isolation

Inbreeding-

Due to the bizarre circumstances, the isolation lead to the intermarriage between close family members. Beginning with the eldest of Fugate's son to his mother's sister. Which eventually lead to inbreeding.

"Nonrandom breeding or mating between close relatives of a population, which share more alleles than non relatives do."

Once Upon a Time in the 1820s...

Martin Fugate immigrated from France to Kentucky along the banks of Troublesome Creek near the town of Hazard, Kentucky

Fugate then married a red-headed woman named Elizabeth Smith. Together they had 7 children, 4 of which were born with blue skin.

The Blue People of Troublesome Creek, Kentucky

Dr. Madison Cawein

Approximately 140 years later, Dr. Cawein from the University of Kentucky was able to diagnose the ailment that was still prevalent in many the descendants of Martin and Elizabeth Fugate.

The diagnosis: Methemoglobinemia

Methemoglobinemia-

"Methemoglobinemia is a rare hereditary blood disorder that results from excess levels of methomoglobin in the blood." The blood is improperly oxygenated and has a brown pigment, which is expressed as a blue color through the skin.

By Shaylee Shocklee

The Cure

To treat the hereditary disease, Dr. Cawein injected his patients with Methylene Blue which was used as an "electron donor" to help the body return to normal levels of methemoglobin.

The Family Tree

Works Cited

"Blue People Genealogy." & Family History. N.p., n.d. Web.

15 Aug. 2015.

Donaldson James, Susan. "Fugates of Kentucky: Skin

Bluer than Lake Louise."

Abcnews.com. N.p., 22 Feb. 2012. Web. 14 Aug. 2015.

Starr, Cecie, Ralph Taggart, Christine A. Evers, and Lisa

Starr. "Genetic Drift and Gene

Flow." Biology: The Unity and Diversity of Life. 13th ed. Belmont, CA:

Brooks/Cole, 2013. 282-83. Print.

Trost, Cathy. "THE BLUE PEOPLE OF TROUBLESOME

CREEK: The Story of an

Appalachian Malady, an Inquisitive Doctor, and a Paradoxical Cure."

www.indiana.edu. N.p., Nov. 1982. Web. 14 Aug. 2015.

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