Harlequin Ichthyosis By: Ibrahim Touffaha

What is Harlequin Ichthyosis It is a severe genetic disorder that affects the skin. Children with this disorder have very hard and thick skin that covers their body The skin is very tight so it restricts movement and it affects the shape of the eyelids, nose, mouth, and ear.

Causes This disorder is 100% genetic so you can get it throughout your life you are either born with it or not This requires both of the parents to be a carrier of the disorder and then their child will have a ¼ chance of having this disorder

Treatment They have to bath with intense scrubbing twice a day to remove all the excess skin that grows They have to apply moisturizing cream so that there skin does not cracking

Cure There is no cure for Harlequin Ichthyosis but they are working on making creams that make their skin much softer.

Worst Case Scenario The worst case scenario is you will die within a few weeks of being born because the skin is cracked and the body has no protective layer to protect it from infections.

Facts In the past Harlequin babies were not able to survive now with recent medical technology the babies can survive into adults under intensive medical care 1 in 300,000 births are harlequin babies There are approximately 200 cases throughout the world

Sources https://ghr.nlm.nih.gov/condition/harlequin-ichthyosis https://rarediseases.info.nih.gov/diseases/6568/harlequin-ichthyosis http://www.firstskinfoundation.org/types-of-ichthyosis/harlequin-ichthyosis