iridology

Iridology is the diagnosis of the overall health of a person by looking at the iris, the colored portion of the eye. Known to have been practiced in China as long ago as 1000 B.C., the practice was first systematized in the west in the 1880s in Germany. It came to North America in the 1900s, where Dr. Bernard Jensen created charts for iridologists that are still used today.

The practitioner studies the structure, colour, density and markings on the iris, different parts of which are believed to be connected to different internal systems, in order to assess the health of those systems.

While iridologists do not diagnose particular conditions or diseases, they offer insight into the region of the body causing the symptoms of the problem. The iris is also said to reveal facts about the general health and constitution of the patient, which can be used as a guide to better life habits.

Numerous tests of the ability of iridologists to diagnose health problems already found by other means have shown that iridologists are not able to consistently correctly diagnose the problems, or distinguish between sick and healthy people. Iridology, if used, should be used as a complement to other forms of diagnosis.

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