Iridology

Some people will believe anything.

The weird science of homeopathy, where sick people pay $$$ for a bottle of water which may or may not include a quadrazillionth of an undetectable molecule of arsenic is one for the gullible.

Now the Herald, a nominally serious mainstream newspaper, is giving weight and extensive coverage  to promote a Waiheke Island (where else!) expert who claims to diagnose your illnesses by taking a peek at your eyeball.

This science goes by the fancy name of iridology.

“Irises are either blue or brown and any other colours between are a corruption of what happens in our life. For instance if our digestive system is not eliminating all toxins, these will accumulate in the body and show in the iris. But some normal conditions such as pregnancy don’t show; and ditto for some slow diseases such as arthritis and Alzheimer’s.”

I can just see the Herald’s readers rushing to the mirror and, detecting that their peepers are not a perfect blue or brown, worrying that they might have piles.

“During a naturopathy consultation, Peter notes the condition of his client’s skin, ears, nails and the face and records details such as patient and family medical history, blood pressure and pulse. He will look his client’s tongue, ask their age, and about lifestyle, diet, and drugs or supplements taken.

This was never going to end well…belief in hocus pocus. It was a stupid belief that led to her death. This is nothing short of quackery. The “health” practitioner should be prosecuted for some sort of culpable homicide.

All this mumbo jumbo and hocus pocus, like the stupid belief that homeopathic “remedies” that are nothing more than water are stronger somehow than medicine…just goes to prove that People are Stupid.

A natural health practitioner treated a woman with a lesion on her head for 18 months, even though the practitioner recognised from the beginning that the lesion “looked cancerous”.

By the time the woman sought hospital treatment, the lesion was 10 x 11cm and some underlying bones were damaged, the Health & Disability Commissioner (HDC) said.

The woman was diagnosed with cancer and underwent major surgery but died a year later.

She had first consulted the iridologist and natural health practitioner about the lesion in February 2008. At the time the woman thought the lesion was a cyst.

Iridology is the diagnosis of a patient’s health by looking at their irises.

The provider recognised from the beginning that the lesion “looked cancerous” and that it was beyond her ability to treat, the HDC said.

Despite that, the provider treated the lesion for 18 months.

“To do so, the provider spent many hours each day at the woman’s house and the woman and provider went on holiday together.”

Treatment of the lesion included picking out dead skin, cleaning the lesion, and the use of topical and oral remedies.

Although initially the lesion appeared to improve, it later grew larger, was frequently infected, bled frequently, and smelled unpleasant. The woman became weak and was in severe pain, the report said.

The provider did not retain any records of the care she provided and no other health practitioner treated the woman’s lesion during that time.