The Body Odd : Linda Dahlstrom

Black and white twins: Brothers from the same mother

fitlist — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 20:43:00 GMT

By Linda Dahlstrom

Some things aren’t always black and white. Then again, sometimes they are – like the twin sons born July 11 to a German couple.

The first baby that was born, Ryan, has light skin and blue eyes. His brother, Leo, is dark-skinned with brown eyes.

"None of us could believe it," the maternity ward's head doctor, Birgit Weber, told one news source. "Both kids have definitely the same father."

Stephan Gerth is German and white. His wife, Florence Addo-Gerth, is from Ghana and has dark skin.

It was “a real surprise,” Gerth told the German newspaper Die Welt, adding that the most important thing to him isn’t color, but that everyone is healthy.

VIDEO: These brothers are a very rare pair

The odds are one in a million, say doctors, but it can happen with fraternal twins due the genetic soup in our backgrounds. Peter Propping, former director of the Institute for Human Genetics at Bonn University, told Die Welt that the black mother may have had some white ancestors, or that the white father may have had black ones. Very occasionally, the roll of the DNA die may cause the baby of biracial parents to inherit only the genetic coding for one color.

Rare though they are, the German twins do have some company. In the past few years, at least three mixed race couples have welcomed twins who were also black and white.

In 2005, British couple Kylie Hodgson and Remi Horder, both born to mixed-race parents, had twin girls – one who is blond and fair-skinned and one who has dark coloring.
In 2006, Kerry Richardson, who is of Nigerian and English descent, and her partner, who is white, gave birth to twins who were both born light-skinned. But as they got older, one got darker while the other got lighter.
Natasha Knight, of Australia, welcomed a blue-eyed blond baby girl and her sister, who has brown hair, eyes and dark skin in 2006. Knight’s older daughter has blond hair, blue eyes and light olive skin. Knight is of Jamaican and English descent; the father is German.

In 1993, another set of black and white twins was born to the Dutch couple, Wilma and Willem Stuart, but it turned out to be a case of an in-vitro mix-up. The parents, who are both Caucasian, were mystified when the twins were born, but fell deeply in love with both of them. However, after about a year, genetic tests revealed that while one of the twins was biologically related to both parents, the other twin was not.

The hospital called it a “deeply regrettable mistake.” It soon became apparent that a device similar to a large eyedropper had been used twice, causing another man’s sperm to be mixed with Willem’s. The couple remembers two other couples in the waiting room the day of the procedure. One of them was black.

Being of different races and coming from different fathers hasn’t stopped the Stuart boys from closely bonding. While the dark-skinned boy did eventually meet the man who was his biological father, the brothers consider themselves full twins. In 2005, they attended a twins festival and proudly won the “Least alike twins” award.”

“For the two boys, being celebrated for their differences finally answered all the questioning looks, nasty teasing, and outright expressions of disbelief they've endured all these years,” Wilma Stuart told Dateline, which has been following the family since 1993.

Stephan Gerth and Florence Addo-Gerth, the parents of the newest set of “black and white” twins, know they’ll face some incredulous stares.

"I imagine sitting in a playground where the other mothers will call me crazy when I tell them the boys are twins," Florence told www.peacefmonline.com.

Like all siblings, their differences are more than skin deep. The twins also have distinctly different personalities, say their parents. Leo, the dark-skinned baby, is quieter; Ryan, his light-skinned brother, is temperamental. "When he's hungry, he's hard to stop,” said the mother.

She says her children were born looking exactly as they should. "God has decided that my children should have different skin colors," she says.

The Blue Man: New York's latest darling

fitlist — Thu, 07 Feb 2008 12:45:00 GMT

By Linda Dahlstrom, health editor

Andy Warhol. David Guest. Donald Trump. The "Cat Woman" Jocelyn Wildenstein.
With a bar that high for quirky-looking characters, New Yorkers aren't easily shocked. Many people escape to New York to express their individuality.

Video

Update with the ‘Blue Man’
Feb. 6: Paul Karason talks about the friendly reactions he received from New Yorkers, his test results and returning to “normal” life.

Today show

So it's no surprise that the city's latest darling is Paul Karason, aka the Blue Man.
"You rock!," said one visor-wearing middle-aged maven who saw him on the street, a moment captured by video for the “Today” show.

Karason's skin turned permanently and decidedly blue about a decade ago after he tried treating a skin condition on his face with a silver preparation. He's also been drinking colloidal silver, which is liquid in a silver suspension, for about 14 years, he says. Over time, it's collected in his skin and turned him blueberry.

In January, he appeared on the "Today Show" with Matt Lauer and Dr. Nancy Snyderman, who encouraged him to see a doctor to find out how his internal organs are faring. He did just that, visiting Dr. Seth Uretsky at St. Luke’s-Roosevelt Hospital in New York. He got a clean bill of health. Mostly. The good doctor reserved final judgment until the heavy metal tests come back.

What surprised the reclusive Karason, who says he doesn't trust doctors, is that he liked Uretsky. Even more astonishing to him was how much New Yorkers are embracing him as a celebrity.

"I'm drawing these little crowds everywhere I go!" he said. “… The people are very positive.”
His fiancée, Jackie Northup says, "He's come out. He's not such an introvert anymore. ... He loves New York!"

Karason said he plans to return home to the Fresno area of California and look for a job. They’d moved to Northern California from Oregon a while back hoping to blend in. (“He hasn’t gone out so much at home,” Northup says.)

But instead, maybe he should consider moving to the Big Apple where he can bask in his newfound celebrity.

As the song goes, These little town blues, are melting away. I’ll make a brand new start of it in old New York.

The true blue story of Paul Karason

BodyOdd — Tue, 22 Jan 2008 22:15:00 GMT

By Linda Dahlstrom, health editor

One can’t help but wonder if the Blue Man Group is feeling threatened.

Sure, they have a good thing going with their sold-out shows, percussion prowess and dancing skills. But we all know what really makes them a hit. Their own advertising slogan points out: “They’re dazzling, they’re outrageous and most of all – THEY’RE BLUE!”

We all know it’s just a facade. When the “blue” men go home at night, they strip off their blue latex, paint or whatever it is that makes them azure and they become just like everyone else.

Video

Why this man turned blue
Jan. 7: Exclusively on TODAY, Paul Karason explains to anchor Matt Lauer what caused his skin to become this color and the scrutiny he experiences for being blue.

Today show

Not so for Paul Karason. He’s blue for real. Permanently, deeply, completely, Violet Beauregarde post-Willy Wonka blue. He’s so hardcore blue that NBC’s Dr. Nancy Snyderman speculates that even his organs are blue.

Take that, Blue Man Group. The 57-year-old from Madera, Calif., says he started turning blue a decade ago after he tried treating a skin condition on his face with a silver preparation. He’s also been drinking colloidal silver, which is silver in a liquid suspension, for about 14 years, he says.

Before the invention of penicillin in the 1930s, colloidal silver was commonly used by doctors as an antibiotic. But then again, medical professionals used to think the best way to get rid of a headache was to drill a hole in the skull.

In 1999, the FDA banned the use of colloidal silver in over the counter drugs. The problem, you see, is that it can collect in the skin and organs and cause severe damage. But it’s still sold as a supplement; Web sites also offer manuals telling people how to make their own.

That’s just what Karason did, and he ended up as a walking cautionary tale if there ever was one. Remember how your mom used to warn you not to cross your eyes or they’d stay that way? Sometimes there’s something to that.

Karason says he’s still drinking the stuff, with no plans to stop - or go to the doctor, for that matter. Even if he quit today, he’s stuck being blue, says Snyderman. Argyria, the condition he has, is permanent.

So, probably, is his nickname. People call him “Papa Smurf,” he says. He seems resigned to his hue and credits the colloidal silver for helping ease his arthritis and dissipate his acid reflux. Still, it’s a high price to pay for the amount of times he’s undoubtedly been asked, “What’s wrong? Feeling a little blue?” And can he only cheer for football teams of a certain color?

A few days before his appearance on the “Today” show, Matt Lauer said Karason told him, “You know, it’s not about what you look like, it’s your character.”

Well spoken, from a man showing his true colors. WATCH VIDEO

Compiled from msnbc.com reports, Today online and news services

Decoding a color
Colors often come to represent different things. But we can’t seem to decide how we feel about the color blue.

Pro: The Egyptians used lapis lazuli to represent heaven. It’s also the color usually used to depict the Virgin Mary. Mood ring decoders say blue represents feeling relaxed and content. (In fact, one Web site suggests it’s the ideal pajama color for that reason.) Weight lifters reportedly do their best in blue rooms.
Con: When you hear a “Code Blue” being called, it never means anything good. And you don’t want to be on the receiving end of someone yelling until they turn blue in the face. Also, whenever anyone sings the blues it’s all about heartbreak and tragedy.
Depends: Blue movies, blue bloods and blue states fall somewhere in the middle depending on your proclivities and politics.