Copper lined vest to help penguins with recovery

Posted by ninju 4 days ago

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Comments

Comment by adrian_b 1 day ago

> an unlikely new garment for injured penguins — snug red vests threaded with copper and zinc that they hope will help the aquatic birds heal faster.

Ointments with zinc oxide and with basic carbonates of copper were already frequently used in the Greek-Roman Antiquity.

For instance Pliny the Elder described their medicinal uses.

Pure metallic zinc was unknown in the Antiquity, but brass, i.e. the copper-zinc alloy, was in widespread use in the Roman Empire, for various items that were intended to be resistant to rust, e.g. for belt buckles. When brass was smelted, some of the zinc evaporated and it was oxidized by the air, then it condensated as white zinc oxide on the colder parts of the installation, from where it was collected and sold to medicine doctors, for the preparation of medicinal ointments.

The basic carbonates of copper are the green corrosion products that cover copper and bronze objects that are exposed to the atmosphere. In Antiquity, that corroded layer was removed and used in the preparation of ointments.

Comment by derefr 23 hours ago

Is there any equivalent to this in human medicine? Copper-and-zinc-infused hydrocolloid bandages, perhaps?

Comment by adrian_b 20 hours ago

When I was young, in Europe, there was some ointment made of cod liver oil and zinc oxide, which was extremely effective for the quick healing of non-infected wounds or burns.

For some reason nowadays, that ointment does not exist any more. There still are a lot of ointments containing zinc oxide, but they have different recipes, with more dubious fatty ingredients (I suppose that cod liver oil is more expensive than the fatty substances used now, which is the likely reason for its substitution), and they are less effective than the old one, but they can still accelerate healing in various skin injuries.

Comment by derideor 17 hours ago

You can still buy the cod liver zinc oxide cream in Germany for "equestrian" usage.

Comment by PorciiVorbesc 19 hours ago

>For some reason nowadays, that ointment does not exist any more.

<tinfoil_hat> big pharma? </tinfoil_hat>

Comment by photonemitter 6 hours ago

Maybe tinfoil hats can do something similar to the copper vests?

Comment by 23 hours ago

Comment by fragmede 22 hours ago

BPC-157 shots

Comment by MrBuddyCasino 21 hours ago

more like GHK-CU, or even just zinc salves (common for babies)

Comment by ninju 4 days ago

Using a vest is probably more fashionable than the cone of shame that other pets get

Comment by LoganDark 22 hours ago

Pets get a cone of shame in order to help wounds heal faster? I thought the cone of shame was to prevent biting/picking at the wound.

Comment by skyberrys 22 hours ago

The article says penguins have long necks and are quite flexible so they can bendy around and bite peck at their wounds too. No mention of a cone of shame but the vests do look adorable too and have added microbial benefits.

Comment by fragmede 22 hours ago

If there was a vest covering the wound so the pet couldn't pick at it, would the pet need the cone of shame to not pick at the wound?

Comment by photonemitter 1 day ago

D bi itj fæst ut’n sinkvæst

Comment by natterangell 18 hours ago

Underrated comment :) Though not unexpected given only about 0.007% of the world's population have a chance at getting the reference.

Comment by willis936 1 day ago

It's not a coincidence that this miracle is only being done on animals, where the legal protections of medicine are less.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ionized_jewelry

Comment by dkural 1 day ago

Copper is a well known antimicrobial and copper paint is used on ship hulls as an anti-fouling layer.

Comment by cinntaile 23 hours ago

Yes, penguin conservationists do this to scam the penguins... You didn't really think that one through did you.

Comment by 16 hours ago

Comment by nomel 23 hours ago

"Contact killing" is real [1]. A copper ring will definitely kill some bacteria/virus on the skin immediately near where they touch. Related, most copper solutions are considered hazardous waste.

[1] https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC3067274/

Comment by mattkrause 1 hour ago

You don’t see a lot of people walking around with E-collars either, but it’s not a conspiracy.

People are just way better about not biting or licking their wounds.