Ken Gargett Posted March 21, 2018 Posted March 21, 2018 i saw a clip on the PBS Newshour where bears who were hurt in the california fires had their burns treated by the use of tilapia skin. tilapia - for those unaware - a fairly ordinary fish that is more of a pest than a trophy. has been introduced to all sorts of places by people trying to sneak a fish into their systems to have a good source of food. seems this might be a wonder medical discovery. amazing. makes you think about what else is out there. and how much will we destroy before we ever find out about it. so checked it out on the net. Doctors are trying an unorthodox approach to treat burn victims — using fish skin Lydia Ramsey May 27, 2017, 12:22 PM Brazillian doctors are taking an experimental approach to treating burns: using tilapia skin. Traditionally, burns are treated using pig and human tissue, which transfer collagen, a healing protein, to the victims' skin. In Fortaleza, Brazil, however, those tissues weren't readily available. That shortage led researchers at the José Frota Institute to turn to tilapia as an alternative treatment for people in the community who suffered from burns. Here's the story of how the team discovered this unconventional new approach. View As: One Page Slides Second- and third-degree burns are painful, and occasionally deadly depending on how widespread they are on the body. Using tissue can often help speed up the healing process. But at the José Frota Institute, doctors were only able to use burn creams and gauze that had to be changed out frequently, a painful process. Reuters So the team looked for other options, including sterilized tilapia skin. When they analyzed the tilapia's skin, they found something unexpected. Reuters “We got a great surprise when we saw that the amount of collagen proteins, types 1 and 3, which are very important for scarring, exist in large quantities in tilapia skin, even more than in human skin and other skins,” Dr. Edmar Maciel, a burn specialist at the institute told Stat News. Reuters Source: Stat News Tilapia is a common fish found in Brazil's rivers and fish farms, which makes the skin readily accessible for the experimental treatment. Reuters In some cases, the sterilized tilapia skin can be left on until the patient's skin starts to scar. But in more extreme cases, the tilapia needs to be changed out, though not as frequently as the gauze-and-cream combination does. Here, doctors wrap a child's burnt skin with tilapia skin. Reuters Tilapia skin also appears to relieve some of the pain. Car mechanic Antonio Janio used the treatment after getting a burn on his arm. "Use the tilapia skin. It's excellent," he told Reuters. "It takes the pain away. You do not need to take medicine. In my case, I did not need it, thank God." Reuters Source: Reuters The tilapia skin is also relatively inexpensive, costing 75 cents less than traditional bandages per application. That's in part because it's considered fish-farm waste. Reuters Once the packaged skin is treated to sterilize it and kill off any viruses, it can be refrigerated and will keep for up for two years. Reuters Source: Stat News For now, the method is still in clinical trials, with 56 people receiving treatment with the skins already. Eventually, though, the practice could spread to other countries, including the US. “I’m willing to use anything that might actually help a patient," Dr. Jeanne Lee, the interim burn director with the University of California at San Diego, told Stat News.
Fugu Posted March 21, 2018 Posted March 21, 2018 Amazing indeed. At least one decent use for tilapia... 1
shlomo Posted March 21, 2018 Posted March 21, 2018 That awful show, The Good Doctor, had this on last episode. One of the very few times I found the show interesting.
Ken Gargett Posted March 21, 2018 Author Posted March 21, 2018 Just now, shlomo said: That awful show, The Good Doctor, had this on last episode. One of the very few times I found the show interesting. shlomo, is that drama of doco? it sounds as though it is more well known than i realised.
steelcity Posted March 21, 2018 Posted March 21, 2018 Ha, use the fish skin but throw the meat to the cats. 1
havanaclub Posted March 21, 2018 Posted March 21, 2018 Awesome stuff. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
shlomo Posted March 21, 2018 Posted March 21, 2018 10 hours ago, Ken Gargett said: shlomo, is that drama of doco? it sounds as though it is more well known than i realised. It's a new-ish drama on network TV based around the premise that a resident with autism and savant syndrome can excel in his surgical field. Just a terrible show all around from acting, to casting, story, realism (or lack thereof, etc...)
GWG Posted March 21, 2018 Posted March 21, 2018 The Asian markets here can't get enough of them and on another note they make great catfish bait!!
El Presidente Posted March 21, 2018 Posted March 21, 2018 The local lake is chock full of them. Nice to see that they can be a resource outside of a poor mans Sea Bream.
Ken Gargett Posted March 21, 2018 Author Posted March 21, 2018 1 hour ago, shlomo said: It's a new-ish drama on network TV based around the premise that a resident with autism and savant syndrome can excel in his surgical field. Just a terrible show all around from acting, to casting, story, realism (or lack thereof, etc...) thanks. i think we have it here as well but i have not seen it. sounds like i would be wise not to bother.
Cohiba007 Posted March 21, 2018 Posted March 21, 2018 It’s not as bad as Shlomo says. Lol. And ABC just picked it up for another season so that means people are watching it.
gweilgi Posted March 21, 2018 Posted March 21, 2018 IT still won't make me order tilapia in a restaurant, but that is good news! Human ingenuity never ceases to amaze me...
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