Fishy treatment

(Clockwise from above) A man relaxes as garra rufa obtusas - dubbed 'doctor fish' - swim around his mouth; people relax in a hot spring and a psoriasis patient's skin is nibbled by fish in a hot spa pool in Kangal, 105 km south of the central Anatolian city of Sivas in Turkey, on Sunday. The treatment is believed to heal psoriasis, a chronic skin disease. Garra rufa obtusa, which live in mineral-rich hot spa pools, is used in the treatment as they nibble away the diseased skin. The mineral-rich water is then believed to aid in the healing process of the lesions. People suffering from psoriasis travel to Kangal to stay at the spa for 21 days and visit the fish pools twice daily for four-hour treatment sessions. Reuters

(China Daily 08/11/2009 page10)