The Fugate family of Kentucky has had blue skin for centuries (2017)
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The Fugate family of Kentucky has had blue skin for centuries (2017)
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Re: The Fugate family of Kentucky has had blue skin for centuries (2017)
#2The discovery of the treatment in the methylene blue dye is quite fascinating. How exactly did someone figure that out for such a rare condition? And imagine being deep blue all your life and everyone knowing you as blue, then you take this blue pill and bam, you're pink as can be. Must have seemed like practical magic.
Re: The Fugate family of Kentucky has had blue skin for centuries (2017)
#3The discovery of the treatment in the methylene blue dye is quite fascinating. How exactly did someone figure that out for such a rare condition? And imagine being deep blue all your life and everyone knowing you as blue, then you take this blue pill and bam, you're pink as can be. Must have seemed like practical magic.
The general condition of methemoglobinemia isn't as rare as this family's particular genetic condition, so the methylene blue treatment was already known. I'm not sure when they first discovered that methylene blue can treat methemoglobinemia - methylene blue was discovered in 1876, but it does all sorts of things.
Re: The Fugate family of Kentucky has had blue skin for centuries (2017)
#4The discovery of the treatment in the methylene blue dye is quite fascinating. How exactly did someone figure that out for such a rare condition? And imagine being deep blue all your life and everyone knowing you as blue, then you take this blue pill and bam, you're pink as can be. Must have seemed like practical magic.
Methylene blue has a fascinating history in medicine. It was already well known as a treatment for methemoglobinemia however. It's a ready electron acceptor. It's used for a few other conditions today, without a lot of evidence.
Re: The Fugate family of Kentucky has had blue skin for centuries (2017)
#5One past thread:
The Fugate family of Kentucky has had blue skin for centuries - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=21096062 - Sept 2019 (86 comments)
Re: The Fugate family of Kentucky has had blue skin for centuries (2017)
#6Anyone have better photos, maybe from the 70s onward?
Re: The Fugate family of Kentucky has had blue skin for centuries (2017)
#7They don't have a family tree... They have a family ladder. Wow.
Re: The Fugate family of Kentucky has had blue skin for centuries (2017)
#8Not to be insensitive, but it would have been interesting if they had a member of the family play an Andorian in Star Trek. Think about it.
Re: The Fugate family of Kentucky has had blue skin for centuries (2017)
#9Anyone have better photos, maybe from the 70s onward?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Methemoglobinemia
Maybe that particular family had it much worse but I don't think I'd ever see someone with it and think "they're blue." Though if it's like poor circulation, it'd looks a bit more blue in person.
Re: The Fugate family of Kentucky has had blue skin for centuries (2017)
#10They don't have a family tree... They have a family ladder . Wow.
Other than the one person marrying their aunt, the closest connection I can see is a second cousin marrying, something I believe is legal, healthy, and very common in that period. I'd bet portions of your family tree from two hundred years ago would look similar.