Iridology

Iridology
	Example iridology chart, correlating areas of the left iris, as seen in the mirror, with portions of the left hand side of the body. Changes in color or appearance of the iris are said to indicate changes in the health of the corresponding section of the body.
Claims	Patterns, colors, and other characteristics of the iris hold information about a patient's systemic health.
Related scientific disciplines	Medicine
Original proponents	Philippus Meyeus
	(Overview of pseudoscientific concepts)

Iridology (also known as iridodiagnosis^[1] or iridiagnosis^[2]) is an alternative medicine technique whose proponents claim that patterns, colors, and other characteristics of the iris can be examined to determine information about a patient's systemic health. Practitioners match their observations to iris charts, which divide the iris into zones that correspond to specific parts of the human body. Iridologists see the eyes as "windows" into the body's state of health.

Iridologists claim they can use the charts to distinguish between healthy systems and organs in the body and those that are overactive, inflamed, or distressed. Iridologists claim this information demonstrates a patient's susceptibility towards certain illnesses, reflects past medical problems, or predicts later health problems.

As opposed to evidence-based medicine, iridology is not supported by quality research studies^[3] and is considered pseudoscience.^[4] The features of the iris are one of the most stable features on the human body throughout life.^[5]^{[disputed – discuss]} The stability of iris structures is the foundation of the biometric technology which uses iris recognition for identification purposes.^[6]^[7]

^ Cline D; Hofstetter HW; Griffin JR. Dictionary of Visual Science. 4th ed. Butterworth-Heinemann, Boston 1997. ISBN 0-7506-9895-0^{[page needed]}
^ LindlahrTake, Henry (2010) [1919]. Iridiagnosis and other diagnostic methods. Whitefish, Montana: Kessinger. ISBN 978-1-161-41232-1. Retrieved 12 September 2011.^{[page needed]}
^ Cite error: The named reference Ernst was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^ Hockenbury, Don H.; Hockenbury, Sandra E. (2003). Psychology. Worth Publishers. p. 96. ISBN 978-0-7167-5129-8.
^ Mehrotra, H; Vatsa, M; Singh, R; Majhi, B (2013). "Does iris change over time?". PLOS ONE. 8 (11): e78333. Bibcode:2013PLoSO...878333M. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0078333. PMC 3820685. PMID 24244305.
^ Massimo Tistarelli; Stan Z. Li; Rama Chellappa, eds. (2009). Handbook of remote biometrics: for surveillance and security. New York: Springer. p. 27. ISBN 978-1-84882-384-6.
^ Anil Jain; Ruud Bolle; Sharath Pankanti, eds. (1996). Biometrics: personal identification in networked society. New York: Springer. p. 117. ISBN 978-0-7923-8345-1.

[Cline-1] Cline D; Hofstetter HW; Griffin JR. Dictionary of Visual Science. 4th ed. Butterworth-Heinemann, Boston 1997. ISBN 0-7506-9895-0^{[page needed]}

[2] LindlahrTake, Henry (2010) [1919]. Iridiagnosis and other diagnostic methods. Whitefish, Montana: Kessinger. ISBN 978-1-161-41232-1. Retrieved 12 September 2011.^{[page needed]}

[Ernst-3] Cite error: The named reference Ernst was invoked but never defined (see the help page).

[4] Hockenbury, Don H.; Hockenbury, Sandra E. (2003). Psychology. Worth Publishers. p. 96. ISBN 978-0-7167-5129-8.

[5] Mehrotra, H; Vatsa, M; Singh, R; Majhi, B (2013). "Does iris change over time?". PLOS ONE. 8 (11): e78333. Bibcode:2013PLoSO...878333M. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0078333. PMC 3820685. PMID 24244305.

[Chellappaedited-6] Massimo Tistarelli; Stan Z. Li; Rama Chellappa, eds. (2009). Handbook of remote biometrics: for surveillance and security. New York: Springer. p. 27. ISBN 978-1-84882-384-6.

[Pankantiedited-7] Anil Jain; Ruud Bolle; Sharath Pankanti, eds. (1996). Biometrics: personal identification in networked society. New York: Springer. p. 117. ISBN 978-0-7923-8345-1.

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