CLAIM: 

Stroking a cow’s back lowers one’s required dosage of hypertension drugs. Further, cleaning a cowshed and lying down in it can even cure Cancer.

FACT: 

There’s no scientific evidence to back the claim that cleaning a cowshed or stoking a cow will cure one’s cancer or lower one’s need for blood pressure medication.

A minister from the northern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh recently claimed that stroking a cows back could help lower one's dependency on blood pressure medicines and cleaning cowsheds could even cure cancer, according to media reports.

"The person should pet a cow on its back every morning and evening and serve it. If the person was taking a 20 mg dose of medicine for blood pressure, it would come down to 10 mg within 10 days. This is a tested thing that I am telling you," said Sanjay Gangwar at the inauguration of a cow shelter in his constituency of Pilibhit on Sunday.

"If a cancer patient... starts cleaning a cowshed and lying there, even cancer can be cured," the Bharatiya Janata Party legislator added.

"गौशाला में लेटने से कैंसर ठीक हो जाता है"

◆ उत्तर प्रदेश सरकार के गन्ना विकास एवं चीनी मिल के मंत्री संजय गंगवार ने कहा

Cancer | Uttar Pradesh | Sanjay Singh Gangwar | #UttarPradesh | #Cancer pic.twitter.com/RmW6NHSS8G

— News24 (@news24tvchannel) October 14, 2024

The claims of the minister have been widely reported by many sections of the Indian media.

To verify the claim, one needs a clear understanding of both cancer and hypertension.

Blood pressure is represented as a fraction. The top number is systolic and the bottom number is diastolic. The force of blood flow, when blood is pumped out of the heart is called Systolic Pressure. Diastolic pressure is the force of blood flow when the heart is being filled with blood, in between heart beats. Consistently, higher numbers in either warrants medical attention and is termed hypertension/ high blood pressure. Antihypertensive agents may be administered to individuals with hypertension to control episodes of high blood pressure.

Expressing affection could release the hormone oxytocin, known to lower diastolic pressure in women. This is true for affection expressed in general, and not necessarily by stroking a cow. However, there’s little scientific literature to show that stroking a cow's back specifically could reduce one’s dose of hypertensive drugs.

Cancer is a diseased condition in which the body’s cells proliferate uncontrollably and spread to different parts of the body. In a normal, healthy body, human cells grow and multiply by a process called cell division. When cells grow old or get damaged, they die, and new cells replace them. However, there are instances when this orderly process of cell division and replacement breaks down, and abnormal or damaged cells proliferate and clump together to form tumours. These tumours could be cancerous or non-cancerous.

While treatment for cancerous tumours depends on the type of cancer that one is afflicted with, conventional treatment includes chemotherapy, radiation, hormone therapies and surgeries. None however, is a guaranteed cure for cancer. And, even if cancer leaves the body there’s no guarantee that it will not return.

First Check attempted to review scientific literature to verify the minister's claims, but found no study corroborating the claims. There is no scientific evidence to suggest that cleaning a cow shed or lying in it could help cure cancer.

Also read: Fact-Check: Ghee and cow milk do not cure cancer