Video: Watch controversial fish therapy for asthma patients in Hyderabad – dip in number of patients in recent years

June 10, 2016, NewsCrunch

The Bathini Goud family of Hyderabad has just concluded its annual camp, in which live fish smeared with a yellow paste, were  forced fed to asthma patients.

The ingredients of the yellow paste are a family secret and the Bathini Gouds claim they have been treating asthma with that for the last 160 years.

Patients collect a token which can be exchanged for a plastic pouch filled with water and live murrayfish. One of the members of the family takes the fish out and opens its mouth to smear the yellow paste. The fish is then shoved into the open mouth of the patient.

To ensure that the fish does wriggle down, the nostrils of the patients are also pressed together, forcing them gulp down the mix.

For the cure to be effective, patients are asked to come for three or four more annual trips. There are also dietary restrictions to be followed.

Over the last decade or so the treatment has become controversial with rationalists seeking a ban on it. The Bathini Goud family has been unable to give a convincing explanation on how the cure works.

Tests have shown that the yellow paste does not contain any steroid, but the efficacy of the treatment has never been established with both supporters and detractors asserting in equal numbers.

Due to the controversy Bathini Goud family have  stopped calling the fish therapy ‘medicine’ and use the word ‘prasadam’ or spiritual offering now.

Perhaps due to the increasingly sceptical media coverage, the number of patients has also dipped considerably. The Bathini Goud family say they used to treat lakhs of people earlier, though the number of patients now seems to range between30,000 to 50,000 a year.