‘Maniblù’, the graphic novel that explains systemic scleroderma to young people

2023-05-29 11:34:00

It was born with the aim of tell teenagers about systemic sclerosisfrom a girl’s unique perspective, ‘Maniblù‘, the initiative of graphic medicine (a cartoon with a health purpose, ed), created by Elma Academy in collaboration with Ails (Italian Association for the fight against scleroderma). The protagonist is in fact the young Maniblù whose name recalls one of the characteristic and visible symptoms of the pathology, due to Reynaud’s phenomenonElma Academy explains in a note. “This graphic novel – he says Massimo Massagrande, founder of Elma Academy – it was a project in which I believed a lot from the beginning because I am convinced that it could represent a useful tool of knowledge and emotional support for the affected young people who live with this pathology”.

The Systemic scleroderma is a chronic and progressive connective tissue disease that mainly affects women. The impact on the population is about 1-2 new cases per 100,000 inhabitants per year. Its course initially affects the skin and then also involves the internal organs. The main feature of the disease is one excessive production of collagen leading to fibrosis of the skin and some internal organs, especially the lungs.

To bring the subject to life – reads the note – various preliminary interviews were conducted with young people and caregivers, which allowed the authors, with the story of their experience of diagnosis and illness, to enter an often inaccessible world such as that of adolescence that can close even more if you face a pathology. The interview phase made it possible not only to collect information on the onset, on the relationship with the pathology and the doctors, on the relational context but also to define, starting from the needs of the young people, the right cut to give to the story. Based on the material gathered through the interviews, the screenwriter Andrea Voglino and the illustrator Luca Bertelè gave birth to Maniblù.

“In the pages of this graphic novel – he observes Gabriela Verzì, president of Ails – all the sensations, emotions and fears that arise after the diagnosis are expressed, but I find the sensitivity, mixed with the skill with which Maniblù was created, to be the most suitable way to speak to that age group of adolescents who must take note of the pathology, but with the delicacy that is obligatory in these circumstances”.

Choosing to make a comic to talk about a pathology – reads the note – arises from the desire to transfer in a more empathetic, concise and usable way information on pathology, therapies and strategies implemented by young patients to live with the pathology, a method that can also be used by the doctor to talk to the patient.

“The idea of graphic novel to try to explain in an immediate way and with language suitable for the adolescent age what systemic sclerosis can bring about is certainly captivating, as well as innovative,” he recalls Giorgia Martini, rheumatologist of the Uosd Pediatric Rheumatology University Hospital of Paduawho oversaw the scientific supervision of the project. Maniblù will be distributed free of charge by Elma Academy and Ails.