A woman who had a brain cancerous tumor died because she chose to follow the advice of an iridologist, instead of going to the hospital and being treated by the doctors. The two woman’s daughters tell us what happened. Everything started with a cyst. The woman decided not to see a doctor, but an iridiologist. Iridology is a pseudoscientific practice through which health problems are diagnosed and treatments are recommended based on the analysis…. of a person’s iris.
Yes. You understood it well. Someone looks at your iris and tells you what diseases you have and how to treat them.
No matter how absurd this may sound, unfortunately there are people who consider that it is an useful solution. It was also the case of the woman whereof I am talking about.
One of the woman’s daughters states that she was asked to promise that she won’t see a doctor. The other daughter tells that the woman considered the iridologist „as some kind of priest”, she believed everything he said, without asking questions.
The iridologist recommended all kinds of bizarre methods of healing, such as tapping her forehead with the fingers or repeating „positive affirmations”. Moreover, he promised the woman that he will cure her of the disease in 3 months if she follows his advice.
Obviously, the advice of the iridologist were unsuccessful and, finally, the woman reached the late stages of cancer and she died.
Now, let’s have an objective look at iridology.
First of all…
Most of the doctors do not agree with iridology because there are no proofs to support its positive results. Iridologists ARE NOT doctors.
Iridology has a name which sounds like science. / The term „iridology” sounds only scientifically. But it is not a science. It is almost the opposite of the science and of the medical treatment that is used in the hospitals.
It is a form of alternative medicine, same as acupuncture or homeopathy (which, by the way, do not work as well).
Iridologists are not doctors, they did not graduate the University of Medicine. They only followed some courses (which are not accredited by the scientific community) and they received a certificate of practice.
What is important to understand at the moment is that iridology only appears to be a science, but it is not. It only gives the impression it is.
Now, let’s take a look at what studies are saying…
The department of science:
In 2000, an analysis of all the researchers done in the field of Iridology reveals that it is not an effective method when trying to identify the liver problems, the heart problems, the asthma, the psoriasis or the ulcer (Ernst, 2000).
A 2005 study clearly demonstrates that iridology is ineffective when it is used to identify cancer. The study involved 110 persons (68 persons who had various forms of cancer and 42 who were healthy). All people were assessed by an experienced iridologist who did not know which patients suffer from cancer and which patients are healthy. He could choose between 5 forms of cancer or he could say that the patients are healthy.
The iridologist correctly identified the diagnosis only for 3 persons. 3 persons out of 110! This is a strong evidence that iridology is useless for identifying cancer (Münstedt et al., 2005).
ÎIn conclusion, iridology is a pseudoscience, based on unfounded data. It only sounds scientifically and, in similar cases to the one I presented today, it could determine people to not seek the effective medical treatments, thus leading to tragedies.
