Iridology is the study of the colored part of the eye (called the iris) to determine potential health problems. Iridologists believe that changing patterns and markings in the iris can be used to reveal emerging conditions in every part of the body and to identify inherited weaknesses that may lead to physical and emotional disorders.
Iridology cannot detect a specific disease. Rather, it is a preventive practice that helps people to understand their basic health issues so that they can seek treatment, if necessary, from the appropriate specialist. According to iridologists, if a health problem is detected at an early stage, something can then be done to prevent it from becoming a full-blown disease.
The idea that the eyes are a mirror to the body is an ancient one: The Greek physician Hippocrates was known to examine patients' eyes for signs of illness. It wasn't until 1670, however, that the first actual medical reference to iridology as a diagnostic tool appeared in German physician Phillipus Meyens' book Chiromatica Medica.
Iridology is an alternative medicine practice in which patterns, colors, and other characteristics of the iris are examined for information about a patient's systemic health. Practitioners match their observations to iris charts which divide the iris into many zones believed to correspond to specific parts of the human body. Little if any rigorous scientific evidence exists confirming any such link between aspects of the iris and a patient's state of health and there is no recognized causative mechanism for any purported correlation.
Iridologists claim that they do not diagnose specific diseases, but rather that they "highlight" those systems and organs in the body that are healthy and those which are described as "overactive" or "inflamed." These are said to point to a tendency in the patient towards certain illnesses, to reflect past medical problems, or to predict health problems which may be developing.
Since iridology is not a method of treatment, its practitioners have often studied other branches of alternative medicine, such as naturopathy, and used the study of the iris as a diagnostic first step. Iridology is practiced more widely in Europe (especially in the UK and Germany), where there are approximately 20,000 practitioners, than in the United States, which has only a tenth of that number.
How Does It Work :
The basis of iridology is a holistic concept well accepted in other fields of alternative medicine, namely that when examined correctly, each part of the body contains information about other parts of the body. In chiropractic medicine, for example, misalignments in the spine are used to diagnose and treat diseases of the internal organs. In Chinese medicine, examinations of the pulse and tongue are regularly included in the diagnostic process. Iridolgists believe that as a degenerative disease slowly develops, the iris will reflect these changes.
Conventional physicians also routinely examine the eye for evidence of internal disease. Using an ophthalmoscope to look at the retina of the eye, a doctor can see how diseases such as diabetes or high blood pressure are affecting blood vessels. Likewise, a close examination of the iris can give information about high cholesterol and certain metabolic ailments.
Methods :
Iridology is mainly a preventitive medicine because it can warn a doctor of a person's apparent tendency toward disease. If a person is potentially approaching an illness, this will show up in an examination of his or her iris. A person's progress can also be expressed by the iris. Cleansing and healing of the body can be verified from changes in the iris. A patient who undergoes iridology should have irides that look significantly different after analysis and treatment.
Iridology works conjunctively with nutrition, herbal medicine, orthomolecular medicine to make sure that a patient is getting his or her appropriate dose of nutrients, minerals, organic elements, enzymes, vitamins, and the proper pH in the stomach. Every disease is considered the result of a chemical shortage. There are certain mineral deficiencies which are associated with specific markings in the iris, such as zinc, calcium, phosphorus, as well as a lack in niacin or folate. An iridologist might suggest what foods a patient should eat to obtain the nutriens that he or she really needs; a person's diet is discussed and may need to change in order for he or she to curb certain risk factors. In addition, a stong constitution of the iris can reveal a person's genetic factors that affect his or her likeliness for developing a particular disease. It is valid that some portions of a person's heredity can be revealed by the striations of the iris.
Iridologists generally use equipment such as a flashlight and magnifying glass, cameras or slit-lamp microscopes to examine a patient's irises for tissue changes, as well as features such as specific pigment patterns and "irregular stromal architecture". The markings and patterns are usually compared to an iris chart that correlates specific zones of the iris with specific parts of the body. Typical charts divide the iris into approximately 80-90 zones. For example, the zone corresponding to the kidney is often in the lower part of the iris just before 6 o'clock. However, iridologists use a number of different maps that do not necessarily agree with one another.
According to iridologists, details in the iris are supposed to reflect changes in the tissues of the corresponding body organs. For example, acute inflammatory, chronic inflammatory and catharral signs are said to indicate involvement, maintenance, or healing of corresponding distant tissues, respectively. Other features that iridologists look for are contraction rings and Klumpenzellen, which are said to indicate various other health conditions, as interpreted in context.
