ICHTHYOTHERAPY: USE OF FISHES AS MEDICINE BY ETHNIC KARBI PEOPLE OF ASSAM, INDIA

Tapashi Gupta* and Mithra Dey

ABSTRACT

In India from primitive time animals are used as medicine to cure different diseases. The present article describes the traditional knowledge of the ichthyotherapy, the use of fishes as medicine to cure different diseases by Karbi communities of Assam. Through the structured questionnaire survey of 50 elderly people of 10 villages of Diphu, Karbi anglong, Assam was interviewed. Respondent listed about 15 species of fishes, which are used in primary health care needs of human being. Head, blood, bile, flesh are most commonly used parts to treat diseases such as asthma, cough and cold, small pox, kala-azar, diarrhea, malaria etc. The findings are more important for remedial measure and documentation although these have to be tested scientifically and clinically. It is essential to study in detail the use of these fish parts which may in future help medical science and also call for conservation of these fishes. The present ethnozoology work has been studied from different published research paper of various author of zootherapeutic studies in India from 2002 to 2015 and it gave us an idea that many types of diseases are cured by animal and their product.

Keywords: Ichthyotherapy, Fish Body Parts, Cure, Disease, Karbi Community.