Brazilian burn patients are treated using tilapia skin
Brazilian doctors have discovered a therapeutic use for tilapia, treating burn patients with the fish’s skin with promising early results.
A group of researchers from the Federal University of Ceará (UFC) led the groundbreaking treatment, according to an exclusive article from The Sun.
They spent two years meticulously developing the procedure in the Nucleus of Research and Development of Medicines (NPDM) department.
The therapy effort is coordinated by plastic surgeons Dr. Marcelo Borges of the São Marcos Hospital SOS Burns and Wounds Unit in Recife and Dr. Edmar Maciel of the Dr. José Frota Institute Burns Unit (IJF) in Fortaleza, according to The Sun.
Maria Ines Candido da Silva, 36, was treated with tilapia skin on her lesion wounds after she suffered second-degree burns from a gas cooker canister explosion at work.
She acknowledged that at first, she thought it was an odd endeavor, but after using the skin, she felt better in a matter of minutes.
“When the tilapia fish skin was being put on, I felt like I was in a science fiction movie,” Ines Candido da Silva told The Sun. The fish skin felt incredibly cold at first, but after a few minutes of wearing it, I stopped experiencing any pain and found it to be soothing and refreshing.
She went on, “I was genuinely appreciative and shocked that it didn’t smell either.”
Fifty patients tried the tilapia skin method, including Candido da Silva, who received the treatment for more than eleven days. This month, December 2016, the first project testing pilot was finished.
As one of the most prevalent freshwater fish that is resistant to disease in Brazil, tilapia was a perfect candidate, according to the researchers. Additionally, the physicians stated that “analysis of the tilapia skin revealed it contains optimum levels of collagen type one and high degrees of humidity, so it takes a long time to dry out.”
According to Maciel, president of the Burns Support Institute, “we found the tilapia fish skin performs significantly better in the healing process by soothing and curing severe wounds caused by burns.”
“The topical creams we now use in the conventional treatment take about the same length of time to cause the skin to recover.
However, because patients do not have to change their dressings every day, this alternate procedure has the advantage of decreasing the trauma and agony that individuals experience.
