Hyderabad is one of the major cities of our country and it is famous for many things such as bangles, pearls, golden jewelry,etc and the world famous historic Charminar. And at the same time, it is also famous for its ‘Fish Medicine’ – as miracle cure for asthematics. As we know Asthma is one of the most serious respiratory conditions a person can have and since conventional medicine does not offer a permanent cure , many are willing to try any kinds of treatment, no matter how bizarre. One of these treatments is swallowing live fish. This treatment is offered by the Bathini Goud family for the last 166 years. The treatment is given free of cost by the family.
Every year, during the month of June thousands of people gathered in Hyderabad to try this unusual remedy on the day of Mriga shira karthi around 500 volunteers administer the miracle cure. Asthma sufferers swallow the fish stuffed with a yellow herbal paste, in hopes it will hell them breath more easily. The wriggling 2-inch fish are slipped in to the throats of patients in a bizarre treatment that leaves them gagging. The sufferer are advised not to take anything 4-hour before swallowing the raw fish and 2-hour after. The Goud family has changed, now, the name of the yellow paste from ‘medicine’ to ‘prasadam’ to herbal food supplement. The family did so because of a controversy.
The Bathini Goud family says the fish clear the throat on their way down and permanently cure asthma and other respiratory problems.In fact, the paste in the fish’s mouth cures asthmatics of their bouts of breathlessness. The live fish travels, wagging its tails and fins, through the throat and negotiates the phelgm congestion and thus curing the patients. After one takes fish prasadam one should take the extra quantity of medicine given and make six tablets out of it and dry them in shade. these tablets should taken, one on empty stomach in the morning and the other after dinner. One should also strictly follow the prescribed diet restrictions for medicine to be effective. However, the family never reveal the secret formula which they say they got from a Hindu saint in the year of 1845. The family further claims, treatment for 3-year continuously will cure asthma.
Nevertheless, there has always been a confusion over fish medicine. Some patients say that this medicine has cured them while some do not agree because they did not get well despite taking this bizarre treatment. There is also a little differences between views of experts. Some health experts point out that even tablets for asthma go it to the stomach then get into the blood stream. A few doctors say that the fish could just be the tool carrying the medicinal paste in to the patient’s body while, others note that the use of fish is not without reason. A famous doctor suspected the use of depot steroids that are given as a lumpsum one-time dose and have an effect that lasts longer. But, nonetheless, the presence of steroids was not found when tests were conducted at many places including Indian Institute of Chemical Technology.
Physicians, too, warn the patients that the fish itself could trigger an allergic reaction. The treatment is unscientific,unhygienic and a violation of human rights , according to doctors. However, this is rejected by the Bathini Goud family. On the other side, the Indian Government arranges special trains for ‘fish medicine’ festival every year.
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