A medical student at Rutgers is trying to build awareness of a rare genetic disorder which he has. It causes a skin disease called ichthyosis — very dry, scaly skin that is very uncomfortable.
The student is 27-year-old Aditya Badeti, who said having this disease is what drove him into medicine.
He said he has begun healing by getting involved with the Foundation for Ichthyosis & Related Skin Types, and urged others to do the same.
“They may find solace or even like pro tips of how to manage their condition and actually how to reach out to specific dermatologists who have expertise in this,”
Badeti says he took part in a clinical trial for a topical medication for his skin, which he says produced encouraging results.
“I had really good success using that topical, it was technically like a blind study where I didn’t know what I was getting but I happened to be in the treatment arm of the trial for the Phase 2B clinical trial and I saw night and day differences after using their topical so I really wanted to share my story,” he said.
He sounded optimistic about the future for people with this disease. “I’ve kind of gotten to terms with ichthyosis and the fact that there’s so much research now into this disease process and more medications are coming out,” he said. “I think that more and more people will find that they can make their day-to-day much more manageable with this condition,” said Badeti.