Never having been to an iridologist, I made a booking
4-Feb-2004
GPs tell their stories
MANY pharmacies in my area advertise free iridology consultations. I am interested in the reasons people seek alternative medicine advice and, never having been to an iridologist, I made a booking. There was a six-week waiting list.
The iridologist was a personable young man. He asked: “Occupation?”
“Teacher,” I replied.
“What is your problem?”
“I am always tired.”
That was the sole content of the history.
He then peered at each iris through a binocular magnifying lens. “Your cholesterol is up.” (Clearly, he can spot an arcus senilis.) He then diagnosed that I was “allergic to all wheat products, was totally infested with candida and giardia and was severely deficient in zinc, iron, magnesium and vitamin B12”. I was advised to purchase Vermox for my intestinal parasites, pau d’Arco (Nature’s Sunshine) to eradicate the candida (which I had to take twice a day for four months), Mega Magnesium before bed to enable my muscles to relax and, for my mineral and vitamin deficiency, Tresos B.
I was to drink half a squeezed lemon in a glass of warm water to cleanse my intestines, and only one brand of spring water. I had to avoid all wheat products and limit myself to only one commercial variety of rye sourdough bread, a gluten-free “museli” (sic), and yoghurt. To manipulate my body back into balance, I was advised to consult a nearby osteopath.
Hippocrates taught that the eyes are the mirror of the soul, an opinion shared by all reputable portrait painters. But the ‘science’ of iridology came into being through the observations of a Hungarian physician, Ignatz von Peczely, in the 1860s.
He was treating a broken leg when he noticed a dark streak in the patient’s eye. Years before, von Peczely had accidentally broken the leg of an owl and he remembered that it too had a dark streak in exactly the same place on the iris. He had a eureka experience and spent years mapping marks in patients’ irises, which were associated with various illnesses.
Despite iridologists having a low diagnostic correlation of the same patients (‘Seeing through iridology’, Australian Doctor, 24 October 2003), iridology seems to be gaining in popularity. The advice and treatments I was given are harmful only to my pocket and to my enjoyment of food, but not to my body.
There are many fanciful reasons given for patients supporting alternative medicine. These include receiving more time, attention, empathy and spirituality than they get from a GP. But this has never been my experience. My theory is that the lay public’s gullibility comes from a lack of scientific education resulting in scientific illiteracy.
At social gatherings I am often attacked about the medical profession’s scepticism of alternative medicine. I counter by asking the attacker about the origins and theoretical bases of their favourite modalities, such as chiropractic, iridology, reflexology and homeopathy. Not one has ever been able to answer any of these questions.
I was surprised the iridologist didn’t ask about my sleep patterns, which were 80% of the cause of my tiredness. The other 20% is due to obesity, but the young iridologist was either too polite to mention it, or else he can’t see beyond the iris.
Professor Max Kamien is former head of the department of general practice, University of WA.
Submit your feedback here: