An Evaluation of Iridology, A. Simon, D. M. Worthen and J. A. Mitas's 1979 article in JAMA, is a blinded test of 143 patients, 95 healthy and 48 with confirmed kidney disease, in which practicing iridologists performed no better than chance at identifying the kidney disease from iris photographs. Its strength is that it is a properly blinded clinical test published in a leading peer reviewed medical journal. Its limit is its age, over forty years, though no later blinded test has overturned its finding, so it remains the standard citation for iridology's lack of diagnostic validity.
Facts
Assessment
Reliability Tier1
A. Simon, D. M. Worthen and J. A. Mitas's 1979 article in JAMA, the top tier reflecting a properly blinded clinical test of 143 patients published in a leading peer reviewed medical journal. Its limit is its age, over forty years, though no later blinded test has overturned its finding, so it remains the standard citation for iridology's lack of diagnostic validity. NotesBlinded test of 143 patients (95 healthy, 48 with confirmed kidney disease); iridologists performed no better than chance.
Citation
AuthorA. Simon, D. M. Worthen, J. A. Mitas
PublisherJAMA
Publication Year1979
Source Typepeer-reviewed article
Claims Backed By This Source (10 claims)
This source backs 10 claims across the atlas. As facts: 8 well-attested, 1 popular myth - corrected. Plus 1 entities citing it as a general reference with no single fact or relationship attached.
Disposition By Topic
- Sources, 7 claims: 7 well-attested.
- Disciplines, 2 claims: 1 popular myth - corrected, 1 general references.
- Articles, 1 claims: 1 well-attested.
Popular myth - corrected
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