Monday, October 8, 2012

Look into your eyes



My mom usually has physical discomfort; she has been under some blood analysis, cholesterol and so on and so forth, taking some pills but the pain hasn’t disappear and the analysis hasn’t  prove a thing, so she decided to give a try to something new: Iridology.

In the side of pseudoscience, naturalistic or holistic medicine, iridology belongs. It’s a system of diagnosis invented by Ignatz Peczely in 1893. The idea was that the iris maps to the rest of the body, and different colors in the iris reflect the state of health of those parts.

The main problem with this pseudoscience is that Peczely never did a serious scientific research to backup its idea, nevertheless that hasn’t been a motive for leaving it behind, still is used as a matter to identify some disease. Despite that this “method” can only identify susceptibility for disease; it can’t diagnose a disease or other verifiable condition.

So, what happened to my mom? The iridologist identified some problems and he prescribed some natural pills and drops, my mom followed every step, but at a point she got tired and dropped out the process. There’s a chance that she might have felt better if she had followed all of those advices, or not.

My point goes beyond my mom’s attitude, I’ve always criticized how operates traditional medicine: they just give you pills for a headache for example, instead of looking deeper what are the reasons of your pain, maybe you have to make some changes in your lifestyle. Meanwhile in the naturalistic medicine, there’s an intention to see how every little thing you do have an impact in your health.

Would you give a try to Iridology? Why do you think it has not been prove by the scientific community? Do you think they see it as a threat?



2 comments:

  1. About two years ago my mom decided to start treating some problems with an iridologist too and after the first month she felt amazing. He prescribed her drops and natural pills, as well as a complete change in her life style (including meals and exercise)and since then she has completely forgot about her problems.
    Because of my mom, I also tried with it, but at end, just like your mom, I dropped it out.
    I see Iridology as a means for having a healthy life but you must trust on it and its benefits. I did not, for that reason I couldn't continue with my "treatment."
    I guess that the scientific community may see Iridology as a threat since there are more and more people engaged to this disciplines each day. I mean, let's face it, alternative medicine evaluate human beings as a whole, body and mind, not like the traditional medicine that just attack the problems and that's what attract people's attention. On the other hand, there are doctors who recomend mix both disciplines in order to have a better life so, not all the things are black or white! ;)

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  2. I agree with your last sentence: "not all the things are black or white!". In fact, I've read that there's no contraindication if you mixed them. When it comes to health, there's nothing to lose if you prove something new.
    I guess that iridology/alternative medicine has engaged more people because they might be tired of going to the doctor for every pain, and sometimes is a circle: you go to the doctor, for the same pain once in a year, and still you don't know why. Perhaps is a lack of commitmment from the doctor, or the patient itself, but -at least in my experience- is because the focus of traditional medicine (attack the pain, and not see you as a whole).

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