Iridology
Iridology
In 1950, a chiropractor from America named Bernard Jensen began
teaching students about the necessity of using natural foods to detoxify the body. He
developed a method by which the color of the iris was used to indicate the presence of
different toxins. American iridology was born.
However, iridology, or the study of disease using the color of the
iris and certain color and thickness of lines across the eyeball originated in Europe, when a
physician from Hungary and a Swedish pastor both noticed iris markings in connection with
disease.
The physician-Ignatz von Peczely accidentally injured an owl as a
child, breaking its leg. While nursing the owl back to health, the young von Peczely noticed
that the thick black mark that appeared in the owl's eye after the injury began to lessen as
the owl healed.
He never forgot it, and as an adult practicing his profession, he
recoded that patients with bone fractures experienced the same black mark across the
iris.
The Swedish pastor-Nils Liljequist-was exposed to malaria as a
young man and while receiving the treatment of quinine and iodine noticed that his blue eyes
began to grow darker as the drugs built up in his system.
He grew up to study homeopathic medicine and recorded similar
reactions in clients who came to him for detoxification purposes.
It has been said that the eyes are the mirror to the soul. The
famous Greek physician Hippocrates believed that they were also the mirror to the
body-specifically for the purpose of determining various ailments.
He too recorded the presence of black marks across the iris of
fractured bones in his patients, and a change in the color of the eye of patients coming down
with diseases.
Unfortunately, iridology cannot be used to determine a specific
disease.
Practitioners of iridology use it to help patients as a
preventative measure understand basic health problems in order to refer them to specialists
if needed.
The belief is that if a disease is detected in the very early
stages it can be prevented from spreading further. The colored part of the eye-the iris-is
studied for these markings and color changes by isolating the iris and taking pictures of it
with a very strong lens.
The process takes about an hour and is painless. The photos are
then blown up and gone over with a magnifying glass by the iridologist and used to determine
and identify potential ailments.
Most of these ailments are believed to be hereditary, and the
patients predisposition to toxicity and disease is determined not only by the photos but with
an extensive interview of family medical history.
This holistic concept is well accepted by other disciplines of
alternative medicine, as it is a fact that all parts of the body are related, especially when
used to warn the body of an impending degenerative disease.
Under this theory, the color changes in the eyes at the very onset
of the degenerative disease are used by the body to indicate an upcoming health problem, and
to warn the body to seek preventative measures.
The concept is not far fetched at all-take the example of
chiropractors using the process of correcting the spinal alignment to help internal
organs.
Even conventional physicians check the eyes for signs of sickness.
(Blood vessel size is an indication of the level of cholesterol.)
There is, however, some criticism toward iridology as
practitioners (especially in the United States) are often not fully or thoroughly trained, as
the courses offered are usually no more than two to three days in length and are put on by
marketing companies who offer "certification" as an iridologist to their
distributors.
The result is the potential for over diagnosis with the
distributor pushing their products through their "specialist."
This tendency toward American consumer ism and over marketing has
given iridology a black eye (no pun intended) as a reputable form of medicine.
When seeking an iridologist, find one who has been certified by
the Institute for Applied Iridology or by the International Iridology Research Association in
Solana Beach, CA.
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