(07/09/09) In the heart of Anatolia, in Turkey, there is a hot spring rich in minerals where little fishes called “Dr. Fish” live. They can relieve the damage to the skin that a disease produces to human beings, a disease that, for now, has no cure.

    Halfway between the Black Sea and the Mediterranean Sea in the Turkish town of Kangal, in the heart of Anatolia and very close to Sivas, it is the Greek Hot Spa Hotel, one of the facilities in the area dedicated to those affected by psoriasis. Here they can find great relief from their injuries thanks to a little fish called Doctor Fish (Garra rufa obtusas), also known as Licker, Nibble Fish, Fangal Fish or Doctorfishen.

    This is a small fish that lives in rivers and hot springs very rich in minerals. It is originally from the Tigris and Euphrates and their tributaries, and it stretches for countries such as Syria, Turkey, Iraq, Iran and Pakistan. In recent years the population in the places of origin has been drastically reduced, at the same time it grew in “natural thermal zones” for public use and Spas specialize in such work.

    There is another species known as Striker (Cyprinon macrostomus), of the family Cyprinidae, that was the first to be mass used to cure human skin lesions. But it is no longer the protagonist of the treatments since it was discovered that Dr. Fisher is even more beneficial with their secretions and it is an efficient worker from juvenile to adult.

    For treatments, in the Wreck Hot, patients are put into buckets, tubs or pools with that hot water (about 35º C), low pH and highly mineralized, where small doctors “clean” the affected areas of skin.

    Dr. Fish specimens are selected by size and their capacity for “cleaning” according to the size and importance of the lesions. The larger and more spread they are, the greater the size of the “Doctors” The most adults can be up to 18 cm, and the young fishes, used for lesions in mouth and inaccessible corners, are about 2.5 cm. long.

THEY ONLY EAT WHAT THEY HAVE TO EAT

    The little fish are strived to eat flakes and dead skin, while they secrete a substance called diathanol that has skin regenerative properties. This, plus the weather and the therapeutic properties of mineral waters, is one of the best treatments to relieve an incurable disease we still know very little about.

    The most serious way to do these treatments is to do what specialists say and follow their instructions. Basically, and depending on the extent and severity of injuries, the treatment lasts 21 days; it is three weeks fighting against something that we know that will not disappear, but drop in its intensity and persistence.

    One of the advantages of the treatment is that, apart from seeing clear signs of improvement in the second week, there are not major outbreaks after treatment and when we return to our daily lives, as it usually happens with most natural and chemical treatments.

    The daily “program” of the treatment is strict in several respects. First of all, you have to drink three glasses of spring water on an empty stomach. Then, Turkish breakfast: bread, local cheese and butter, olives, tomato, green pepper, milk, tea, instant coffee, yogurt, ham, jam and boiled egg. All this, before the first bath with the fish.

HYDRATE, GENEROUS BREAKFAST AND RELAX IN WATER 

    With well-filled stomach (they insist on it), we go to digest comfortably seated or lying in hot water and... relax while tens of “Doctor Fish” work concentrated in their efforts to peel.

    The therapy requires three daily baths, no more than 6 or 8 hours per day depending on the extent and amount of the injury, and an hour and a half per session at least. Of course, alcohol, spicy and the rush and stress are banned.

    Free time goes fast because there is always an excursion to do. Sivas is a city of some importance due to the Spa Resorts like Fangal, although in the past it had its historical significance. In fact, its founders were the Hittites, 2000 BC, and the city preserves important vestiges of the successive occupations of Persians and Romans, which are the destination of the trips where lush forests and beautiful lakes are always crossed.

    It is an environment surrounded by mountains, steeper in the further east, that hopefully (depending on the weather) can be discovered in all its beauty and grandeur from the sky, on the plane that takes and brings us from the airport of Sivas.

DOCTOR FISH AT HOME: BATH IN AN AQUARIUM

    And for those who can not go up to this lost corner of Turkey, a company called Doctor Fish 888 offers treatment at home. They say that they will bring the treatment anywhere in the world. Can you imagine swimming in your aquarium at home?

    To reproduce the ideal conditions for the life of the little fish, they have created all kinds of pools, bathtubs, fishbowls, mini Spas... where there is a kind of pebbles or gravel and stones-algae that are absolutely necessary for the maintenance of the mini ecosystem. Moreover, they have the corresponding purification, oxygen and water heating equipment.

    This company sends the chosen receptacle (with heating system) and when the customer informs that it is in operation, they send the fish and a minimum of water rich in selenium and other minerals by a courier company. To replace the water they have a product ready to be added to tap water to get the “mineralized water” that, of course, has nothing to do with the Turkish spring water that comes with the order.

    We will have to see if the fish survive and if the “mineral water” have the same effect on the skin, but it is for sure that the Turkish climate, natural waters and relax provide an important accompaniment to the treatment with the fish.

Text: Juan Diego M. Alcaraz
Photos: Dr. Fish 888