![]() ![]() Once cleaned and treated, it can last for up to two years, researchers say. University lab technicians treated the fish skin with various sterilizing agents, and sent it to São Paulo for irradiation to kill viruses before packaging and refrigeration. The tilapia treatment can speed up healing by several days and reduces the need for pain medication, the Brazilian researchers say. "The fish skin is usually thrown away, so we are using this product to convert it into something of social benefit." "The use of tilapia skin on burns is unprecedented," said Odorico de Morais, a professor at Ceara University. In China, researchers have tested tilapia skin on rodents to study its healing properties, but scientists in Brazil say their trials are the first on humans. While sedated they also received additional treatments such as cold-laser therapy, chiropractic and acupuncture.Scientists at the Federal University of Ceara in northern Brazil have found that tilapia skin has moisture, collagen and disease resistance at levels comparable to human skin, and can aid in healing. On days where the dressings were applied or changed, the animals were anesthetized. So, the vets managed to create their own sterilized skins from tilapia they purchased at a local market. Due to regulatory restrictions, prepared skins from Brazil couldn’t be shipped to the U.S. Veterinarians had heard of the burn treatment helping people in Brazil and thought it might be useful for their four legged patients. Treating wild animals with injuries such as these using traditional methods carries even more complications and risks (to the animals and their caretakers) than for human patients. Earlier this year, a cougar cub and two bears were rescued from the Thomas fire in California. This innovative treatment isn’t just helping people. Clinical research is ongoing to explore the efficacy of burn treatment with tilapia skin and to better understand just how it helps burns to heal. One patient even remarked that he immediately noted a reduction in pain after the tilapia skin was applied. Why does it work so well? Researchers say that tilapia contains loads of vital skin-healing collagen proteins (types 1 and 3), which speeds healing by days, according to the study. Patients also don’t typically need to take antibiotics or pain medication when receiving the tilapia treatment. ![]() Imagine the difference: from daily, excruciating bandage treatments for weeks, to a mere two to three changes. In cases where only a single application of the skin is necessary, the tilapia skin simply dries up and falls off as the skin underneath heals. Tilapia skin can stay on until the patient’s own skin has scarred over in many cases and even with deep second or third degree burns, the tilapia skin need only be changed a few times over the course of treatment (which can last a few weeks). Tilapia skin has shown to have a number of other promising advantages. But when sterilized and dried, it can not only last up to 2 years, but can be used to treat burns incredibly successfully and inexpensively. Tilapia is a fish that’s farmed all over Brazil, and the skin has traditionally been considered a waste product and thrown away. In response to this massive shortage, doctors have been working on a new treatment using the sterilized skin of tilapia. ![]() Additionally, in Brazil, skin banks only meet 1% of the demand. However the dressing needs to be changed in a painful process every day, even on shallow second degree burns. Treatments with ointments and gauze dressings can be less expensive than human or pig skin. DO DOCTORS USE FISH SKIN ON BURN VICTIMS FREEDoctors use either a sort of skin transplant- treated, sterilized skins from humans or pigs- or they use gauze dressings and ointments to keep the burn area moist and free from infection. Traditionally, bad burns are covered while they heal. And it seems to be working even better than they’d hoped. I came across this story about doctors in Brazil who have been experimenting with using the skin of the ubiquitous tilapia fish to help heal burns. This blog post falls in the category of too cool not to mention. ![]()
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