Why a sheet of cod scales could save your skin
SKIN grafts made from Atlantic cod scales are being used to treat slow-healing wounds where all other methods have failed. New research shows that Kerecis Omega3 Wound sheets – a by-product from cod caught for food – contain anti-inflammatory fatty acids, and they successfully healed about nine out of ten long-term chronic wounds in just four weeks.
Once in place, the sheets, which have visible fish scales, form a scaffolding which the body’s repair cells then populate and use to seal wounds. Researchers say no antiviral processing is needed because there are no diseases common to the North Atlantic cod and humans.
Chronic wounds affect more than 200,000 Britons and the NHS spends an estimated £1 billion to £3 billion a year treating them.
It is a growing problem because of the rise in the number of older people and the increasing number of cases of people with diabetes, who are at high risk of developing chronic wounds.
Kerecis Omega3 Wound sheets use cod skin that is processed to remove living cells while preserving the structural ‘matrix’ that supports it, as well as the fat content. Previously, tissue from other animals, including pigs and cows, have been used to treat human wounds, but the fish skin is the only one to contain Omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids, which help reduce inflammation and prevent infection.
Once processed, the fish skin is dried, packaged and stored.
When it is needed, it is cut to fit inside the injury, and then put into water for 30 seconds to rehydrate it. It is then placed inside the wound, and a protective dressing or plaster is put over the injury and the fish skin.
Over time, the fish skin graft slowly dissolves and is replaced by the patient’s own tissue.
Research presented at the international Advancement of Wound Care conference in Atlanta this month showed that 87 per cent of the 68 wounds monitored improved or healed after four weeks of treatment with the skin, which is approved for use in the UK.
Significant results have come from work carried out by dermatologists at Danderyds Hospital in Stockholm, Sweden, involving seven patients suffering from chronic leg wounds.
None of the wounds involved had responded to conventional treatment. One case involved a woman whose wound had been open for more than 20 years and who had been scheduled for amputation.
After just eight weeks of treatment with cod skin, the wound healed and the limb was saved.
In a second case, a sixyear-old chronic wound healed in three months. Professor Anna Nicolaou, spokeswoman for the British Association of Dermatologists, said: ‘This is a very interesting study that shows drastic improvement in the healing of difficult wounds.’
She added: ‘We know from other research that fish oils contain anti-inflammatory protective Omega-3 fats that are beneficial for skin health.
‘Further studies would need to be conducted to confirm these very promising findings.’