Last night while watching, um, American Gladiators on NBC, I saw a promo for a fluff-piece on the Today show about a blue man that would have aired this morning.
I’m at work when the Today show is on, but I looked the story up and it stems from a December 19th story out of Oregon:
It’s not makeup or paint that makes Paul Karason’s skin a bluish 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.
Interesting stuff. I’d actually heard of this condition before, but this is the first time I’ve seen it. Makes you wonder if he grew the beard to look like Papa Smurf?
