Iridology (also known as iridodiagnosis
[Cline D; Hofstetter HW; Griffin JR. ''Dictionary of Visual Science''. 4th ed. Butterworth-Heinemann, Boston 1997. ] or iridiagnosis) is an
alternative medicine
Alternative medicine is any practice that aims to achieve the healing effects of medicine despite lacking biological plausibility, testability, repeatability, or evidence from clinical trials. Complementary medicine (CM), complementary and alt ...
technique whose proponents claim that patterns, colors, and other characteristics of the
iris can be examined to determine information about a patient's
systemic
Systemic fundamental to a predominant social, economic, or political practice. This refers to:
In medicine
In medicine, ''systemic'' means affecting the whole body, or at least multiple organ systems. It is in contrast with ''topical'' or ''loc ...
health. Practitioners match their observations to ''iris charts,'' which divide the iris into zones that correspond to specific parts of the human body. Iridologists see the eyes as "windows" into the body's state of health.
Iridologists claim they can use the charts to distinguish between healthy systems and organs in the body and those that are overactive, inflamed, or distressed. Iridologists claim this information demonstrates a patient's susceptibility towards certain illnesses, reflects past medical problems, or predicts later health problems.
As opposed to
evidence-based medicine
Evidence-based medicine (EBM) is "the conscientious, explicit and judicious use of current best evidence in making decisions about the care of individual patients". The aim of EBM is to integrate the experience of the clinician, the values of t ...
, iridology is not supported by quality research studies
and is considered
pseudoscience
Pseudoscience consists of statements, beliefs, or practices that claim to be both scientific and factual but are incompatible with the scientific method. Pseudoscience is often characterized by contradictory, exaggerated or falsifiability, unfa ...
. The features of the iris are one of the most stable features on the human body throughout life. The stability of iris structures is the foundation of the
biometric technology which uses
iris recognition for identification purposes.
In 1979, Bernard Jensen, a leading American iridologist, and two other iridology proponents failed to establish the basis of their practice when they examined photographs of the eyes of 143 patients in an attempt to determine which ones had kidney impairments. Of the patients, 48 had been diagnosed with kidney disease, and the rest had normal kidney function. Based on their analysis of the patients' irises, the three iridologists could not detect which patients had kidney disease and which did not.
Methods
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 compared to an ''iris chart'' that correlates zones of the iris with parts of the body. Typical charts divide the iris into approximately 80–90 zones. For example, the zone corresponding to the kidney is in the lower part of the iris, just before 6 o'clock. There are minor variations between charts' associations between body parts and areas of the iris.
According to iridologists, details in the iris reflect changes in the tissues of the corresponding body organs. One prominent practitioner,
Bernard Jensen
Bernard (''Bernhard'') is a French and West Germanic masculine given name. It is also a surname.
The name is attested from at least the 9th century. West Germanic ''Bernhard'' is composed from the two elements ''bern'' "bear" and ''hard'' "brav ...
, described it thus: "Nerve fibers in the iris respond to changes in body tissues by manifesting a reflex physiology that corresponds to specific tissue changes and locations."
[Jensen B; "''Iridology Simplified''". 2nd ed., Escondido 1980.] This would mean that a bodily condition translates to a noticeable change in the appearance of the iris, but this has been disproven through many studies.
(See section on Scientific research.) For example, ''acute inflammatory'', ''chronic inflammatory'' and ''catarrhal'' signs may indicate involvement, maintenance, or healing of corresponding distant tissues, respectively. Other features that iridologists look for are ''contraction rings'' and ''Klumpenzellen'', which may indicate various other health conditions, as interpreted in context.
History
Medical practitioners have been searching the eyes for signs of illness since at least 3,000 BCE.
The first ''explicit'' description of iridological principles such as homolaterality (without using the word ''iridology'') are found in ''
Chiromatica Medica'', a famous work published in 1665 and reprinted in 1670 and 1691 by
Philippus Meyeus
Philippus may refer to:
* Philippus (cognomen), a name accustomed with the Roman gens ''Marcia''
* Philippus (character), a fictional character in DC Comics
People
* Flavius Philippus, a Roman Empire official under Emperor Constantius II c. ...
(Philip Meyen von Coburg).
The first use of the word ''Augendiagnostik'' ("eye diagnosis", loosely translated as ''iridology'') began with
Ignaz von Peczely
Ignaz von Peczely (January 26, 1826 – July 14, 1911) was a Hungarian scientist, physician, homeopath, considered the father of modern iridology.
Von Peczely first thought of iridology when caring for an owl with a broken leg. After noticing ...
, a 19th-century Hungarian physician who is recognised as its founding father.
The most common story is that he got the idea for this diagnostic tool after seeing similar streaks in the eyes of a man he was treating for a broken leg and the eyes of an owl whose leg von Peczely had broken many years before. At the First International Iridological Congress, Ignaz von Peczely's nephew,
August von Peczely
August is the eighth month of the year in the Julian and Gregorian calendars, and the fifth of seven months to have a length of 31 days. Its zodiac sign is Leo and was originally named ''Sextilis'' in Latin because it was the 6th month in ...
, dismissed this myth as apocryphal, and maintained that such claims were irreproducible.
The second 'father' to iridology is thought to be
Nils Liljequist
Nils Liljequist (1851–1936)
was a Swedish priest,
healer, doctor, and one of the fathers of iridology.
After treatment with iodine and quinine, he noticed many differences in the color of his iris.
Growing up, he studied medicine and homeopa ...
from
Sweden
Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...
,
who greatly suffered from the outgrowth of his lymph nodes. After a round of medication made from iodine and quinine, he observed many differences in the colour of his iris. This observation inspired him to create and publish an atlas in 1893, which contained 258 black and white illustrations and 12 colour illustrations of the iris, known as the
Diagnosis
Diagnosis is the identification of the nature and cause of a certain phenomenon. Diagnosis is used in many different disciplines, with variations in the use of logic, analytics, and experience, to determine " cause and effect". In systems engin ...
of the Eye.
The German contribution in the field of natural healing is due to a minister Pastor
Emanuel Felke
The Protestant pastor Leopold Erdmann Emanuel Felke (born 7 February 1856 in Kläden, Province of Saxony, Prussia; died 16 August 1926 in Munich, buried in Bad Sobernheim) was a naturopath who developed the eponymous Felke cure, and who was ac ...
, who developed a form of
homeopathy
Homeopathy or homoeopathy is a pseudoscientific system of alternative medicine. It was conceived in 1796 by the German physician Samuel Hahnemann. Its practitioners, called homeopaths, believe that a substance that causes symptoms of a dis ...
for treating specific illnesses and described new ''iris signs'' in the early 1900s. However, Felke was subject to long and bitter litigation. The Felke Institute in Gerlingen, Germany, was established as a leading center of iridological research and training.
Iridology became better known in the United States in the 1950s, when
Bernard Jensen
Bernard (''Bernhard'') is a French and West Germanic masculine given name. It is also a surname.
The name is attested from at least the 9th century. West Germanic ''Bernhard'' is composed from the two elements ''bern'' "bear" and ''hard'' "brav ...
, an American chiropractor, began giving classes in his own method. This is in direct relationship with P. Johannes Thiel, Eduard Lahn (who became an American under the name of Edward Lane) and J Haskell Kritzer. Jensen emphasized the importance of the body's exposure to toxins, and the use of natural foods as detoxifiers.
Criticism
The majority of
medical doctors
Doctor of Medicine (abbreviated M.D., from the Latin ''Medicinae Doctor'') is a medical degree, the meaning of which varies between different jurisdictions. In the United States, and some other countries, the M.D. denotes a professional degree. T ...
reject all the claims of all branches of iridology and label them as
pseudoscience
Pseudoscience consists of statements, beliefs, or practices that claim to be both scientific and factual but are incompatible with the scientific method. Pseudoscience is often characterized by contradictory, exaggerated or falsifiability, unfa ...
or even
quackery
Quackery, often synonymous with health fraud, is the promotion of fraudulent or ignorant medical practices. A quack is a "fraudulent or ignorant pretender to medical skill" or "a person who pretends, professionally or publicly, to have skill, ...
.
Critics, including most practitioners of medicine, dismiss iridology given that published studies have indicated a lack of success for its claims. To date,
clinical data
Clinical may refer to: Healthcare
* Of or about a clinic, a healthcare facility
* Of or about the practice of medicine Other uses
* ''Clinical'' (film), a 2017 American horror thriller
See also
*
*
* Clinical chemistry, the analysis of bodily flu ...
does not support correlation between illness in the body and coinciding observable changes in the iris. In controlled experiments,
practitioners of iridology have performed statistically no better than chance in determining the presence of a disease or condition solely through observation of the iris.
It has been pointed out that the premise of iridology is at odds with the fact that the iris does not undergo substantial changes in an individual's life. Iris texture is a
phenotypical feature that develops during
gestation
Gestation is the period of development during the carrying of an embryo, and later fetus, inside viviparous animals (the embryo develops within the parent). It is typical for mammals, but also occurs for some non-mammals. Mammals during pregna ...
and remains unchanged after infancy. There is no evidence for changes in the iris pattern other than variations in pigmentation in the first years of life and variations caused by
glaucoma
Glaucoma is a group of eye diseases that result in damage to the optic nerve (or retina) and cause vision loss. The most common type is open-angle (wide angle, chronic simple) glaucoma, in which the drainage angle for fluid within the eye rem ...
treatment. The stability of iris structures is the foundation of the
biometric technology which uses
iris recognition for identification purposes.
Scientific research into iridology
Well-controlled scientific evaluation of iridology has shown entirely negative results, with all rigorous
double blind tests failing to find any statistical significance to its claims.
In 2015 the
Australian Government's Department of Health published the results of a review of alternative therapies that sought to determine if any were suitable for being covered by
health insurance
Health insurance or medical insurance (also known as medical aid in South Africa) is a type of insurance that covers the whole or a part of the risk of a person incurring medical expenses. As with other types of insurance, risk is shared among ma ...
. Iridology was one of 17 therapies evaluated for which no clear evidence of effectiveness was found.
[
*]
A German study from 1957 which took more than 4,000 iris photographs of more than 1,000 people concluded that iridology was not useful as a diagnostic tool.
In 1979, Bernard Jensen, a leading American iridologist, and two other iridology proponents failed to establish the basis of their practice when they examined photographs of the eyes of 143 patients in an attempt to determine which ones had kidney impairments. Of the patients, 48 had been diagnosed with kidney disease, and the rest had normal kidney function. Based on their analysis of the patients' irises, the three iridologists could not detect which patients had kidney disease and which did not. One iridologist, for example, decided that 88% of the normal patients had kidney disease, while another judged through his iris analysis that 74% of patients who needed artificial kidney treatment were normal.
Another study was published in the ''
British Medical Journal
''The BMJ'' is a weekly peer-reviewed medical trade journal, published by the trade union the British Medical Association (BMA). ''The BMJ'' has editorial freedom from the BMA. It is one of the world's oldest general medical journals. Origi ...
'' which selected 39 patients who were due to have their gall bladder removed the following day, because of suspected gallstones. The study also selected a group of people who did not have diseased gall bladders to act as a control. A group of five iridologists examined a series of slides of both groups' irises. The iridologists could not correctly identify which patients had gall bladder problems and which had healthy gall bladders. For example, one of the iridologists diagnosed 49% of the patients with gall stones as having them and 51% as not having them. The author concluded: "this study showed that iridology is not a useful diagnostic aid."
Edzard Ernst raised the question in 2000:
Does iridology work? ... This search strategy resulted in 77 publications on the subject of iridology. ... All of the uncontrolled studies and several of the unmasked experiments suggested that iridology was a valid diagnostic tool. The discussion that follows refers to the 4 controlled, masked evaluations of the diagnostic validity of iridology. ... In conclusion, few controlled studies with masked evaluation of diagnostic validity have been published. None have found any benefit from iridology.
A 2005 study tested the usefulness of iridology in diagnosing common forms of cancer. An experienced iridology practitioner examined the eyes of 110 total subjects, of which 68 people had proven cancers of the breast, ovary, uterus, prostate, or colorectum, and 42 for whom there was no medical evidence of cancer. The practitioner, who was unaware of their gender or medical details, was asked to suggest a diagnosis for each person and his results were then compared with each subject's known medical diagnosis. The study conclusion was that "Iridology was of no value in diagnosing the cancers investigated in this study."
Regulation, licensure, and certification
In Canada and the United States, iridology is not regulated or licensed by any governmental agency. Numerous organizations offer certification courses.
Possible harms
Medical errors—treatment for conditions diagnosed via this method which do not actually exist (
false positive result) or a false sense of security when a serious condition is not diagnosed by this method (false negative result)—could lead to improper or delayed treatment and even loss of life.
See also
*
Moleosophy
Moleosophy or moleomancy is a technique of divination and fortune telling based upon the observation and interpretation of bodily marks—primarily those of the ''melanocytic nevus'' condition (i.e. moles).
Although divination by moles, birthmark ...
*
Phrenology
Phrenology () is a pseudoscience which involves the measurement of bumps on the skull to predict mental traits.Wihe, J. V. (2002). "Science and Pseudoscience: A Primer in Critical Thinking." In ''Encyclopedia of Pseudoscience'', pp. 195–203. C ...
References
External links
The Skeptics Dictionary
{{Pseudoscience, state=autocollapse
Alternative medical diagnostic methods
Pseudoscience
Human iris
Eye color