PNO – “My parents say I’m made of fish, but my neighbors say my skin looks like snake scales” – the 17-year-old girl shared.
For many years, Floraine Nalugon (17 years old, Filipino) has had to live with discrimination and teasing from many people around her because of her unusual appearance.
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| Floraine has a skin disease called lamellar ichthyosis (also known as ichthyosis). This is a rare genetic condition that affects 1 in 600,000 people. The disease causes the skin of the whole body to be covered with scales as hard as snake skin. |
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| “My parents told me I was made from fish, which is why to some people my skin looks like fish scales, while others think it looks like snake scales,” Floraine shares. |
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| Floraine feels very sad and hurt because she has been bullied since she was a child until now. However, the family tried to hide the truth about her condition. |
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| Symptoms of “snake skin disease” appeared when Loraine was very young. She looks forward to treatment so she can have a normal life like everyone else. |
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| Ichthyosis is characterized by abnormal scaling and shedding of the skin. Symptoms of the disease often appear from the first days of life.
People with ichthyosis tend to have brown, disc-shaped patches of skin. The cause of the disease is believed to be a genetic abnormality that affects skin shedding. |
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