Blue man leaves Oregon hoping to find acceptance in California
Story Updated: Dec 19, 2007 at 9:26 PM PST
MADERA, Calif. - It's not makeup or paint that makes Paul Karason's skin a deep purple color.
The 57-year-old started making the transition from fair skin and freckles to what he looks like today 14 years ago.
"The change was so gradual that I didn't perceive it and for people around me, likewise," Karason said. "It was just so gradual that no one really noticed. It wasn't until a friend that I hadn't seen in several months came by my parents' place to see me and he asked me 'what did you do?'"
What Karason did was use a substance called colloidal silver, which is made by extracting silver from metal. It goes into water with an electrical current and then you drink it. Colloidal silver is billed as something that will cure just about everything that ails you and Karason swears by it.
Karason does not believe drinking the potion is what caused his discoloration. He believes it happened because he rubbed it on his face to treat a skin problem. A medical condition called Argyria has been linked to such discoloration since the days when silver solutions were used as antibiotics.
Whatever the cause, Karason said it is not easy living life as a blue man.
"I do tend to avoid public places as much as I can," he said.
Karason's girlfriend, Jackie Northrup, said she was surprised at first, but is now used to it.
"The only time now that I really think about it or notice it is if we're out in public and people start staring," she said.
Karason moved to Madera, California about six months ago after living in Oregon. He said too many people in Oregon were unkind to him and he hopes Californians will be different.
"I hope that they just accept me," he said. "And I think that will happen here. Where I was, I rather doubt it would have. This is a different kind of community here."
"He's very kind and has a big heart," said Northrup.
Karason said he has not sought medical attention for the condition and he is prepared to live with it for the rest of his life.
Posted by merrygirl (Member # 12041) on :
I would hate to turn blue.
Why are people so mean?
It is sad he had to move because (some) people are jerks
Posted by Greatcod (Member # 7002) on :
Maybe he could find a job with The Blue Man Group.
Posted by CaliforniaLyme (Member # 7136) on :
He really is blueberry blue blue BLUE!!! Wow. If he moves to SF he'll start a craze*)!
Posted by Foggy (Member # 1584) on :
This story has a Willy Wonka Vibe to it.
Seriously, I hope he sees an MD & gets help.
I was always reluctant to ingest non-supliment metals knowing I had a metals problem.
Posted by luvdogs (Member # 9507) on :
I wonder what kind he was using or if he was making his own... I wonder if I will turn blue somewhere down the line from having used it quite a bit when I first got sick. hmmmmmmmmm very interesting indeed!
Posted by treepatrol (Member # 4117) on :
Papa Smurf
And he still thinks it was because he RUBBED it on his face not from taking it.
Posted by sparkle7 (Member # 10397) on :
Well, if he already turned blue - I guess it can hurt him to continue taking it.
I don't think they have a cure for it, nor do I think it's harmful other then he has to deal with people looking at him or reacting nastily.
I don't think this happens too often but it may be where the term "blue bloods" comes from.
They used silver plates, cups, etc & silverware to eat from.
I think this sort of thing happens when people make their own CS & take it excessively. You can't really test the particle size when you make it yourself.
This happened to a guy who was running for some political position in Colorado or some mid-western state, too.
I haven't heard of any company that makes CS getting sued for agryria.
Posted by TerryK (Member # 8552) on :
I found something that said he made the silver himself. Interesting that the FDA does not ban it like they have other dietary supplements that they consider dangerous.
Well, at least the minocycline only made by legs discolored - big brown spots. It's been over a year and I still have them so I guess they won't be going away. Not as bad as they were at first but they still go from my feet all the way up my legs.
I feel sorry for the guy. I couldn't find out where he lived in Oregon. I live in Oregon and aside from some of the smaller towns, I've found people to be very kind and accepting. In any case, I hope he finds acceptace wherever he is.
Terry
Posted by Lymetoo (Member # 743) on :
I would bet he made it himself AND he ingested plenty of it. I don't see how he could become THAT blue from putting silver on a skin condition.
I do hope he finds a nice community that will accept him.
Posted by Areneli (Member # 6740) on :
TerryK,
Spots after Mino eventually do go away but it may take a few years. That is according to a dermatologist I see.
Posted by tic chick (Member # 9156) on :
If a blue man married a blue woman , and they had children, would they have started a new race? Or if the blue man married an African American woman, would the children be black and blue?
Don't mean to goof on the guy..being different in that way is quite a burden..among the hardest medical conditions to be lived with is facial disfigurement...a terrible fate in many ways.
Posted by TerryK (Member # 8552) on :
I do not believe it is banned since it is readily availbable to the general public. I believe that colloidal silver cannot be sold as an OTC drug and cannot have labeling that states any health benefits.
Terry
Posted by sparkle7 (Member # 10397) on :
Yeah, they sell it at Whole Foods.
They are about to start using silver for alot of things - especially nanoparticles.
They use it to kill germs & bacteria.
One company has a washing machine that uses nano silver to kill germs in the laundry.
They also can use copper.
I saw something that they are going to use copper coated railings in public places to cut down on germs.
Posted by tic chick (Member # 9156) on :
Terry,
I stand (or bow) corrected.
The FDA has issued a Final Rule declaring that all over- the-counter (OTC) drug products containing colloidal silver or silver salts are not recognized as safe and effective and are misbranded.
Not banned.
Sorry, Tic
Posted by TerryK (Member # 8552) on :
Areneli - Thanks, I hope he is right. My LLMD said he couldn't guarantee that the spots would go away but hopefully your derm is correct.
Tic Chick - no worries - they don't exactly make it easy to read their info do they?
Terry
Posted by Truthfinder (Member # 8512) on :
Prior to about 1975, the `silver' used as an antimicrobial was one of several Silver Salts, which are not the same as colloidal silver.
If you make your own silver solution, you have to be very careful that you don't end up making one of the Silver Salts! The US Federal Register lists the silver products that cause Argyria (blue skin) as Silver Salts, including: silver nitrate, silver arsphenamine, silver chloride, and possibly silver iodide.
Argyria is very rare, and it is reversible, although it takes a long time and a lot of work on the part of the patient.
I've often wondered what HLA testing would show on people with Argyria...... Or how they would test on the p-450 genetics test. I suspect there may be in innate inability to detox in these people.
Maybe the folks with discolored teeth or brown spots from taking certain antibiotics can find true love with the people who turned blue from silver products.... Naw.... probably not. There aren't enough Blue People to go around. Posted by Keebler (Member # 12673) on :
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Despite a few problems with some, I think GOOD silver is a wonderful choice that can save lives. The part we play is being smart about it. Personally, I think it is much safer than many pharmaceuticals out there. But if too many show that it can work, it would then be out of our hands.
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Very interesting video. It makes many assumptions, however.
Clearly, he made his own. Not all silver does this. However that is why a good quality from a good source is important. I think it's possible to make one's one, but this is to be researched very carefully. The source of water used is of great importance, too.
We also don't know what else he may have in his diet, etc. There may be interactions still to be uncovered.
About ten years ago, by phone, I talked to Willy Burgdorfer, Ph.D. - the researcher who discovered the borrelia strain - I told him that I had no access to the abx but had positive tests and severe symptoms. He advised silver over abx, clearly (when I asked: "well, what do you think you'd do?").
As I stated elsewhere, a good quality Colloidal Silver kept me out of a wheelchair. It has to do with the type and how each individual can process it.
- He should get genetic testing as while this may be from the particular type of silver solution he made it could be a genetic enzyme defect seen in a particular family from Kentucky. He may have ancestors with that.
His reddish hair makes me wonder - as the Blue People of Kentucky all had red hair, too.
National Geographic had an article on this many years ago.
The Blue people of Kentucky did not take silver, however, they were born with blue skin due to a genetic trait. They seemed to be much bluer than the greyish skin from bad silver experiences - or from individual problems metabolizing/eliminating it (which I tend to connect).
Until the guy who just moved to Calif. gets genetic testing for the "blue gene" it cannot be assumed that the silver was the sole cause. If he has the gene the silver may have triggered a latent genetic trait.
Careful testing of his water source and examination of his diet and other environmental exposures should also be of consideration.
Edited to add:
Also - it would be of great help for scientists to research the differences in silver for safety's sake. What are all the differences in that taken by those whose skin has turned grey or blue? However, with the pharmaceutical companies scampering for business any valuable education in silver will probably not be undertaken. It could be research that could save lives as, IMO, I think silver could hold great promise.
We have to realize that the FDA must have clear studies, etc. and that no supplement can make any health claims. The FDA even has stomped out some of the allicin research - even with tons of medical articles from all over the world.
Sometime around 1820, a French orphan named Martin Fugate, carrier of an incredibly rare recessive gene for a disease known as hereditary methemoglobinemia, settled on the banks of Troublesome Creek in Eastern Kentucky and married Elizabeth Smith, carrier of the same incredibly rare recessive gene.
It was a remarkable coincidence with a bizarre result: Four of the seven Fugate children were born with bright blue skin that lasted their entire lives. (According to legend, and the image above, Martin Fugate himself had blue skin).
The reason for this strange skin disorder was only discovered a century later when it was realized that due to an enzyme deficiency, the Fugates' blood had a diminished oxygen-carrying capacity. Over the years, the Fugates interbred repeatedly.
Blue people proliferated. Six generations later, according to a Science article published in 1982, there were still Blue Fugates roaming the hills of Eastern Kentucky.
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And . . .neither Kentucky nor France would be the only places, but just a start if one is to study this further. An incredibly rare recessive gene - hmmm. I still have to wonder about this man possibly having that gene and something triggered it - especially with his red hair.
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Posted by Truthfinder (Member # 8512) on :
Very informative post, Keebler. I agree that water is critical when making your own silver, along with some other precautions (which is one reason I've never attempted to make my own silver solution).
quote:About ten years ago, by phone, I talked to Willy Burgdorfer, Ph.D. - the researcher who discovered the borrelia strain - I told him that I had no access to the abx but had positive tests and severe symptoms. He advised silver over abx, clearly (when I asked: "well, what do you think you'd do?").
Wow, I find that really fascinating! Not only that you actually talked to him but the advice he gave you. I knew he was involved in some research with silver to treat Lyme, but I guess I didn't really he was so convinced by what he found.
Well, I went to the link you posted and got rather caught up in the Blue People information. I guess I'd never heard anything about this - it was all new to me.
Posted by merrygirl (Member # 12041) on :
![[Eek!]](eek.gif)
![[Frown]](frown.gif)
![[loco]](graemlins/loco.gif)
![[shake]](graemlins/shake.gif)
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corrected. ![[Big Grin]](biggrin.gif)
Naw.... probably not. There aren't enough Blue People to go around. ![[Smile]](smile.gif)