An Experimental Treatment: Doctors in Brazil Use Fish Skin to Treat Burn Victims

[Sunlei]

Source: NBC

Researchers in Brazil are experimenting with a new treatment for severe burns using the skin of tilapia fish, an unorthodox procedure they say can ease the pain of victims and cut medical costs. Frozen pig skin and even human tissue have long been placed on burns to keep them moist and allow the transfer of collagen, a protein that promotes healing.

Brazil's public hospitals, however, lack human and pig skin supplies and the artificial alternatives easily available in Western countries. Instead, gauze bandage, which needs regular changing - often painfully - is the norm.

Car mechanic Antonio Janio badly burned his arm when a cylinder of soldering gas leaked. He says the tilapia skin treatment is more effective than bandages that need to be changed every two days. The fish skin has high levels of collagen type 1, stays moist longer than gauze, and does not need to be changed frequently.

Use the tilapia skin. It's excellent," Janio said. "It takes the pain away. You do not need to take medicine. In my case, I did not need it, thank God."



Read more: http://www.nbcnews.com/news/latino/experimental-treatment-doctors-brazil-use-fish-skin-treat-burn-victims-n765116

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Morais said that the tilapia skin treatment costs 75 percent less than the sulfadiazine cream typically used on burn patients in Brazil, as it is a cheap fish-farming waste product.

The tilapia skin is applied directly onto the burned area and covered with a bandage, without the need for any cream. After about 10 days, doctors remove the bandage. The tilapia skin, which has dried out and loosened from the burn, can be peeled away

[lark]

1. Awesome!

What a great idea! I had 3rd degree burns on my hands from boiling grease when I was a young woman and can remember the excruciating pain. I'm so happy Brazil has come up with something so much better than the sulfadiazine I used. My Brazilian son-in-law will be proud to hear this news, there's been so much dysfunction in his country lately.

[JudyM]

2. Doesn't have to be changed often? I'd think there'd be bacteria growing unless it's somehow

sanitized.

[colorado_ufo]

3. That would be the obvious thought, however

nature often has surprises for us. It may be that the fish skin has a natural antibacterial quality. There are a number of natural substances (such as sugar) that do not grow bacteria, and some (like tea tree oil) that are antibacterial.

The most stunning news is that the tilapia skin takes away pain, plus it is easy to remove. I have had both third degree burns and also abrasions that peeled away the skin, and the sticking gauze is a giant problem. Rather fortunately in the case of the burn, it was a small area on my ankle but so deep that the nerves were damaged, so there was little pain.

Curious side note: After healing, the burn area remained totally numb for years - from the age of six until about age 40. You could stick pins in it. Then, gradually, I started getting feeling back in the area.

Yep - lots of discoveries to be made!