Greetings Steemians. Welcome again to my blog. It's good to have you here again How is your week going? Mine has been interesting and I’m here to share one of the fascinating things I have learnt so far.
I came across this while watching a series titled ‘The Good Doctor’ where Dr. Kalu applied tilapia skin on a woman with third degree burns to help her grow back her real skin. I was fascinated at the simplicity of the treatment and decided to make more research. Here are my findings
The truth is stranger than fiction. This has gone beyond proof of concept and has been demonstrated with significant results by several researchers. Most of these scientists started their treatment with animals having severe burns as they would normally not want to take chances with human lives.
One of such interesting treatments was carried out on a polar bear by some veterinary doctors in California. The bear had suffered third degree burns and was unable to walk. Unlike the conventional sulfadiazine cream treatment which may take up to six month to heal this particular degree of burn, the fish skin brought significant changes in a short while; within just 2 months, the bear was able to walk again. Amazing, right? Yeah
Bear third treatment
source: wikimedia commons under Creative Commons
Attribution 2.0 Generic license
This treatment is very common in Brazil and in 2017; Brazilian medical professionals took the bold step of using this treatment on human for the first time ever. As in the case of the polar bear, the result were seemingly unreal and most of the patients especially those who have suffered burns before confessed that this treatment eliminates the need for bandages and the pain experienced when they are changed.
In order for us to appreciate and have an understanding of how this works, let’s quickly talk about the human skin and the degree of burns.
Human Skin
The human skin is made up of three major layers namely epidermis, dermis and sub-cutis. The epidermis is that outer layer of the skin that we see every day. It is responsible for protecting body fluid, skin pigmentation, replacement of old surface cells and many other functions.
The dermis is beneath the epidermis. It is the middle layer consisting of the hair follicles, collagen bundles, blood vessels and other connective tissues. This layer conveys pain and other sensations.
The subcutis is also known as hypodermis. It lies beneath the dermis and contains mostly fat and collagen bundles responsible for conserving body heat and holding the dermis together.
Degrees of burn
Burns are categorized into; first, second, third and fourth degrees based on the layer of the skin affected and the depth of the damage
- First- degree burns: these are often minor superficial injuries affecting only the epidermis. They are usually associated with redness, pain and sometimes swelling. First degree burns are not severe and can heal within a week without any scar
- Second degree burns: Compared to the first degree burns, these are more severe as they involve the epidermis and some parts of the middle layer. They can result in blistering, swelling, deep redness coupled with lot of pain. They usually take 3-5 weeks to heal depending on the damage level and the area of the body affected.
- Third degree burns: This degree of burn requires urgent medical attention as it can lead to permanent disability, disfigurement and even death. They involve complete destruction of the dermis and epidermis. Several tissues , sensory nerves, collagen bundles, blood vessels, pain receptors are always destroyed and as a result of this, the charred surface may be numb to touch. However, they result in swelling, changes in skin colour and dry leathery skin.
As in the case of second degree burn after healing, this degree of burn is usually followed by thick scars.
By now, I believe you would appreciate better the fact that the fish skin in question can heal up to third degree burns
- Fourth degree burn: This is the gravest and deepest of them all. This category of burn is not really pronounced as it is likely to lead to death or amputation depending on the part of the body affected. It goes beyond all the layers of the skin into the bones.
THE BEGGING QUESTION
So, what exactly in the tilapia skin is responsible for this healing? The answer is Collagen
Collagen is a structural protein responsible for the firmness of the skin and the replacement of dead skin cells.
it is the most abundant protein found in the bodies of mammals.
There are several types of collagen bundles in human body from Type I to Type XXI with each type performing similar functions in different areas of the body.
The human skin is capable of healing itself but due to the obliteration of collagen bundles in third degree and severe second degree burns, there is need to outsource it in order to boost the growth of new collagen bundles at the burn site. Fortunately, high amount of collagen needed for healing wounds/burns is present in the skin of tilapia fish.
It is also important to recognize the fact that collagen can be derived from other animal sources such as horse, pig and cattle.
Treatment Procedures
The treatment is quite simple. The fish skin is used as plaster on the wound after it has been preserved in the fridge for almost two years and subjected to thorough treatments that remove the fishy smell, scales and possible toxins. There is no need for pain reliever; the fish skin takes care of that. The skin is often removed with the aid of lubricant and changed once it’s dried up and peeling. This replacement can be done several times until the burn site is healed.
CONCLUSION
Severe burns can have serious damaging effect both physically and psychologically and this is why medical professionals are seeking better and affordable methods of treatment. This science is still young but it has proven capable of healing second and third degree burns even without analgesics. Before now, human skin and pig skin grafts are commonly used to treat severe fire burn but compared to these, tilapia fish skin seems relatively cheaper, disease-resistant and easier to sustain. More importantly, tilapia skin contains Type 1 and Type 2 Collagen necessary for the healing of burns and scald even more than the human skin.
Despite the numerous benefits inherent in the use of tilapia fish skin, many animal right activists have argued that this treatment will endanger the tilapia fish species. Maybe, maybe not
I think it’s too early for such speculation and on the lighter note, man has been eating tilapia fish since time immemorial and I don’t think it’s ever finished from the seas. Well, I’m of the opinion that human life is more valuable than any animal life and deriving this kind of benefit from them is not bad at all. Let me not push it further. Some people may not share the same view especially the ethical vegans but the fact remains that these present benefits outweigh any of such potential shortcomings.
By the way, if you are in that category you will find this letter by @gentleshaid beneficial
This may not be the best treatment yet, but you will agree with me that it is surely an improvement over what used to be, especially in poor countries.
References
- Healing burns with fish skin
- Human Skin
- Burn Injury
- Fish skin bandages helped burn bears and cougal heal
- Collagen dressing
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