When Salim Kumar visited the notorious Mohanan Vaidyar for a cure

After giving Kerala countless cherished moments of entertainment, National and State award-winning Malayalam actor Salim Kumar passed away on Saturday night ( June 6), following a cardiac arrest. Earlier in the day, he was admitted to a hospital in Kochi and was on ventilator support. A few years ago, at a medical event, the actor had revealed that he had been suffering from liver cirrhosis for a while.

Apparently, urged by one of his friends and scared of surgery, the actor visited a few naturopaths. Unfortunately, their remedies only worsened his health, and the actor shared the stories in his signature style, topped with humour.

Apparently, the disease first showed up as jaundice, and when he researched his condition, it was clear that the only solution was surgery. "In our villages, mention that you have jaundice and someone or the other will say that they know a 'vaidyar' (naturopath) who prescribes a special 'powder' as its effective medicine. True, these powders will cure your jaundice, but probably not the type of jaundice you are infected with. Many people don't know that there are different types of jaundice. The one that the vaidyar cures would have gotten cured if at all you don't take anything," the actor said, adding that he went to three vaidyars before taking the doctor's help.

Apparently, a vaidyar from Ottappalam, who claimed to cure even cancer, prescribed him a medicine called 'Nilamparantha', which was to be added to porridge and eaten for 51 days. "I had it for 51 days, but didn't get better. When I called him to say this, he revealed that he is suffering from the fourth stage of cancer! And that I should go to a doctor," Salim Kumar confessed.

However, the fear took him to a second naturopath - the notorious Mohanan Vaidyar, who even claimed to cure COVID-19 but eventually passed away due to the same infection.

Salim Kumar says Mohanan Vaidyar prescribed him 'grass that the cow eats' along with some other vegetables he grows organically.

"He even claimed that my disease had no medicine in allopathy. However, after having his prescription, I started throwing up blood. I feared whether even my intestines would come out. I asked my son to contact him, and the vaidyar claimed the reaction shows the medicine is effective. However, eventually he too asked me to head to a hospital," the actor revealed.

Even then, Salim Kumar continued to trust such prescriptions and visited a third vaidyar in Malayattoor. "He asked me to make a 'lehyam' (semi-solid herbal medicine) from water from 500 coconuts and have it. My poor wife made it with a lot of difficulty, but my body rejected that, too. When I informed him of this to the vaidyar, he said, "Alright, don't throw away the lehyam. You can use it on the skin for burns!"

Salim Kumar said one of the vaidyars even made him write a testimony that he gained weight after the treatment and used it on their pages. "Only later did I discover that the equipment on which I checked my weight was faulty," he said.

What is liver cirrhosis?
It's a disease that replaces healthy liver tissue with scar tissue (fibrosis). Generally, it happens due to years of inflammation due to alcohol use, metabolic dysfunction, or viral hepatitis. In the past, Salim Kumar has reportedly said that his condition is genetic, and his brother too suffered from the same.

Liver Cirrhosis Symptoms
The Mayo Clinic gives the following as the symptoms of liver cirrhosis:
a) Itching on the skin
b) Swelling in the abdomen, legs, ankles, feet
c) Weight loss, weakness and fatigue
d) Nausea
e) Loss of appetite
f) Jaundice

What the WHO says about naturopathy
According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), well-trained naturopathic practitioners are also aware of the system's limits. "A properly trained naturopathic practitioner will immediately refer a patient when circumstances indicate that a patient's safety and well-being will be put at risk if they are not treated by a different healthcare practitioner," says WHO on its website.

Also, when the response to a treatment is inadequate or inexplicably unsatisfactory, and the patient's condition deteriorates, naturopaths are supposed to refer the patient to other health professionals.
The overwhelming sadness among fans over Salim Kumar's death is evident in more than 50K Google Trends searches over the past 10 hours.