An ayurvedic herbal paste known as a 'patthu' is applied to a Sri Lankan eye patient at the Gangula Veda Medura medical center in Panadura, Sri Lanka, April 6. The medical center has restored the eyesight of numerous patients who were all classified as hopeless cases by conventional medicine.

An ayurvedic assistant prepares individual herbal prescriptions.

Herbal ingredients are ground in the traditional way for patients.

Eye patients assist in the preparation of herbal medication as their participation is said to act as a catalyst in their treatment.

A collection of ola leaf manuscripts has been handed down through five generations of ayurvedic physicians.

Patients await treatment for sight deficiencies.

Helianny Garcia uses crutches as she parades down the catwalk during Bionic Fashion Day at the Metropolitan Cultural Center in Quito, Ecuador, on Feb. 5. Garcia is a cancer survivor from Venezuela whose right leg was amputated in her fight against the disease.

Cintia Caraguay of Ecuador prepares to model a creation before the start of Bionic Fashion Day. Caraguay lost her right leg to cancer.

Eric Salas from Venezuela, who lost his right arm to cancer, is prepared to model clothing at Bionic Fashion Day.

Arli Mujica, from Venezuela, supports herself on crutches as she wears a piece of her costume before the start of Bionic Fashion Day. Mujica is a former runner who lost her left leg to cancer. Today, Mujica is a competitive swimmer at the paralympic level.

Veterinarian Philip Fox mounts a heart monitor on the side of Oliver, a golden retriever, at the Animal Medical Center in New York City, Dec. 10, 2012.

Anesthesiologist Patty Fontana calms Cody, who had been sedated to take x-rays of his hip, at the Animal Medical Center in New York City, Dec. 10.

Veterinarian Josh Steinhouse retrieves surgical instruments while operating on a dog at the Animal Medical Center in New York City, Dec. 12. A team of veterinary specialists removed bladder stones from the pet during the surgical procedure in the hospital's $3.5 million hybrid operating suite, the only one of its kind in the U.S.

A bearded dragon stands under a heat lamp before receiving an ultrasound test for pregnancy at the Animal Medical Center in New York City, Dec. 12.

Veterinarian Laura Proietto speaks with a pet owner about his dog's condition at the Animal Medical Center in New York City, Dec. 12.

Professional performers 'Doctor E.K.' and 'Dr. Mafalda,' members of the Red Noses clown doctors, perform in the pediatric clinic in Novo Mesto, Slovenia on Nov. 7.

'Doctor Sfrckljana' performs with a doll in a clinic for infectious diseases in Ljubljana on Nov. 7.

Members of the Red Noses clown doctors on Nov. 7.

'Doctor E.K.' performs in the pediatric clinic in Novo Mesto, on Nov. 7.

'Doctor Obizek Cvilka' and 'Doctor Zena' perform at a home for the elderly in Ljubljana on Nov. 19.

'Doctor Mally' dances with a nurse as an elderly patient watches at a care home in Izola, on Nov. 16.

'Doctor Zivalski' shows a mirror to an elderly woman as he performs at a care home in Izola, on Nov. 13.

'Doctor Zen' sings to boys in the hospital for disabled youth in Stara Gora on Nov. 5.

Dr. David Mathis waits to be let into the main building of the California Medical Facility in Vacaville, Calif., Sept. 12, 2012.

Dr. Davis Mathis visits with an inmate in the hospital unit at the California Medical Facility in Vacaville, Calif., Sept. 1.

Dr. David Mathis, center, accompanied by physician's assistant Rob Johnson, left, examines a sore on the foot of an inmate at the California Medical Facility in Vacaville, Calif., Sept. 12.

A member of the Goud family administers "fish medicine" to an asthma patient in Hyderabad, India, on June 8. Started by the Bathini Goud family, the therapy is a secret formula of herbs, handed down by generations only to family members. The herbs are inserted in the mouth of a live sardine, or murrel fish, and slipped into a patient's throat.

A woman, center, swallows a live fish that has been dipped in homemade medicine as people crowd for their turn in a camp in the southern Indian city of Hyderabad on June 8. Every year in June, the Bathini Goud brothers from Hyderabad draw thousands to their camp to take part in the administering of the fish medicine, which they believe cures them of asthma and respiratory problems.

People rush inside the venue where live fishes dipped in homemade medicine are being distributed, as policemen try to control the crowd in the southern Indian city of Hyderabad on June 8. Every year in June, the Bathini Goud brothers from Hyderabad draw thousands to their camp to take part in the administering of the fish medicine, which they believe cures them of asthma and respiratory problems.

A photo made available on Monday shows a Myanmar vendor presenting a tiger skull (for selling its teeth) next to the head of a goral and other medicinal products made from wildlife at a stall near the tourist site of Kyaikhtiyo Pagoda (also known as Golden Rock Pagoda )at Kyaik Hto township, Mon State, Myanmar. Several stalls and shops illegally selling rare animals products used in some Asian medicines. The goral skull is boiled for oil and used as a remedy for human bone ailments. Illegal poaching, hunting and trafficking of rarest animals such as serow, goral, tiger, bear and snake for sale and supplying wildlife to China consumption and use as traditional medicine has been a key cause of a precipitous decline in the wild of these endangered species across Myanmar, Thailand, Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam.

Foreign tourists walk by rare animals sold as medicine at a stall near the tourist site of Kyaikhtiyo Pagoda, also known as Golden Rock Pagoda.