New method: Cure burns with tilapia skin

A Brazilian woman is now one of the first people in the world to apply tilapia skin treatment for burns, instead of traditional treatments.

Maria Ines Candido da Silva, 36, a waitress at the Brazilian restaurant Casa Velha, Russas, suffered severe burns on her face, arms, legs and neck when the gas tank exploded at work.

Maria's doctors used tilapia skin to apply burns instead of traditional ointments and bandages. After 11 days of treatment, most of the fish skin on the neck and face were removed, and deep burns in the legs and arms would require more time to treat.

During this time, the doctors checked the wound condition every two days. They replaced fish skin several times to ensure hygiene and facilitate the recovery of destroyed tissue. They use a lubricating oil to separate the fish skin pieces, without affecting the wound.

This new method is researched and developed by a group of doctors from José Frota Burns Institute in Fortaleza, Brazil. Selected fish of the genus Tilapia live in the tropics, most popular in Africa.

Tilapia skin is used by hospitals in Brazil as an effective way to treat burns.(Photo: Ijf Burns Unit / Caters News Agency).

Dr. Edmar Maciel, representative of the research team, said: "We found tilapia skin can treat burns on humans. Time to heal damaged skin areas when used. The same method of applying fish skin to topical creams is the same, however, the new method reduces the pain significantly for the patient, and avoids the burns rubbing against the clothes. treatment is much cheaper. "

According to Dr. Maciel, the results showed that tilapia skin contains the optimal content of collagen type 1 and high moisture content, so it has been dried for a long time. Tilapia skin minimizes dehydration, plasma, provides essential proteins for wounds and reduces the risk of infection. These are important characteristics to accelerate the healing process of burns on the human body.

Scientists choose tilapia because it is a very popular freshwater fish in Brazil. Fish are fed by farms and supplied to many restaurants, but almost all fish skin is discarded.

Fish skin collected by the research team will be treated strictly before being put into treatment. First, fish skin is removed from scales, excess tissue, fishy deodorant, removing toxins and other infectious factors. After that, fish skin will be stretched to 10-20 cm and stored in a frozen bank in Sao Paulo within 2 years.

Currently, many South American countries still use Sulfur Sulphadiazine to treat burns for about 14 days. Gauze and bandages must be changed daily to avoid infection and unpleasant odors. Patients must take a large amount of painkillers, which may also hinder treatment.

For that reason, the selection of tilapia skin for burns is considered an important step in the medical industry in Brazil. Patient Maria Ines Candido da Silva was one of the first to be tested with this new treatment in early October.

She said: "When the doctors put the fish skin on the wounds, I felt very cold, but then there was no pain anymore, and more comfortable. Fish skin also did not smell bad".

Maria also said that she felt like she was transformed into a sci-fi character and not a patient.