![]() ![]() 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. Doctors 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. But in developing countries that have less intense regulations and a stronger need for readily available solutions, tilapia skin looks to be a realistic solution in helping patients.This blog post falls in the category of too cool not to mention. In the United States, using animal skin requires careful analysis from the FDA so tilapia skin is unlikely to be used as a burn treatment anytime soon. They also encourage fish farmers to raise fish for medical use and are hoping to partner with a company to process and treat tilapia skins for wider spread use. For more severe burns, the tilapia skin is applied and then changed, but less frequently than gauze and cream and with greater benefit as tilapia helps alleviate pain.Įventually, the researchers hope to convince others of the benefits of tilapia skin for burn treatment so that it becomes commercially available. The cream helps burns from becoming infected but doesn’t promote healing.įor superficial second degree burns, the tilapia skin is applied and left on until the burn heals. Furthermore, tilapia skin speeds up the healing process by several days and is much more cost effective than silver sulfadiazine cream, which is commonly used to treat burns. According to researchers at the Federal University of Ceara, tilapia skin has similar moisture, collagen and disease resistance to human skin, which helps to accelerate healing in burn victims. In Brazil, fish farms are becoming more prevalent to meet the rising demand for fish. Tilapia fish skin helps with pain and is also a cost effective method of burn treatment, according to the doctors conducting the experiment. Taking gauze on and off is painful for patients and tilapia is plentiful in the South American country. But pig skin is hard to find in Brazil, which uses gauze to treat burns. Traditional burn treatment includes placing frozen pig skin on burns to replenish collagen and accelerate healing. Doctors in Brazil are using tilapia fish skin as an experimental treatment for burn victims. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |