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 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.
Tilapia is abundant in Brazil's rivers and fish farms, which are
expanding rapidly as demand grows for the mildly flavored freshwater
fish.
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.
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.
"The use of tilapia skin on burns is unprecedented," said Odorico de
Morais, a professor at Ceara University. "The fish skin is usually
thrown away, so we are using this product to convert it into
something of social benefit."
The tilapia treatment can speed up healing by several days and
reduces the need for pain medication, the Brazilian 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. Once cleaned and
treated, it can last for up to two years, researchers say. The
treatment removes any fish smell.
In medical trials, the alternative therapy has been used on at least
56 patients to treat second- and third-degree burns. Patients, with
limbs covered by fish skin, resemble creatures from a science
fiction movie.
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.
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The fish skin has high levels of collagen type 1, stays moist longer
than gauze, and does not need to be changed frequently.
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.
"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."
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 researchers hope the treatment will prove commercially viable
and encourage businesses to process tilapia skin for medical use.
For photo essay click on: http://reut.rs/2qkgXGF
(Reporting by Paulo Whitaker and Pablo Garcia; Editing by Richard
Chang)
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