Diagnosing Health Through the Eyes, Dr. Park Seong-il, Iridology-Based Diagnosis and Treatment

The importance of preventing disease before it occurs cannot be overstated. Depending on their innate constitution, people's susceptibility to chronic diseases, obesity, and cancer varies. Consequently, it is essential to manage health based on the characteristics of each individual's constitution and to be prepared for diseases in advance. Iris diagnosis is commonly used for such prevention. Iris diagnosis is a method of preventative medical diagnosis that examines the iris's color, texture, blemishes, and shape to determine the patient’s innate health status and disease history. It is the principle of diagnosing diseases based on differences observed for each symptom and the nerve-connected information in the body that appears on the iris. In Europe, active medical research into iris diagnosis has been conducted for many years. Since its introduction to Korea in 1994 by the director of the Korean Oriental Medicine Clinic, Park Seong-il, the Korean Iridology and Medical Association has conducted the majority of iris diagnosis research in Korea. Currently, we are working diligently to develop a program for such diagnosis using iris image data. Let's speak with Dr. Park Seong-il, who is leading the development of iris diagnosis in Korea, to learn more about this concept.

1. How can the iris be used to diagnose health?

The iris is an information screen for the human body that indicates innate weaknesses. The iris is a highly innervated organ that receives stimulation from both the body and the surrounding environment, and its structure reflects an individual's constitution. Consequently, diseases, harmful habits, and signs of aging manifest as changes in the iris, and its analysis provides information on one’s constitution, nerve reactions, aging-related damage, and diseases.

2. Please describe in detail the significance of iris diagnosis in terms of preventive medicine.

It is a useful tool for proactively determining and managing health risks by identifying genetic weaknesses and characteristics, and for providing personalized medicine by identifying differences in constitutional responses to drugs or foods. Personalized health screening according to genetic predisposition, constitutional characteristics, and degree of aging is possible through iris diagnosis. Even in the case of diseases with a genetic predisposition, such as diabetes or high blood pressure, symptoms do not initially manifest due to the human body's tendency to compensate. However, an iris diagnosis can be made as early as the preclinical stage, enabling treatment prior to the onset of symptoms. It is also important in terms of preventive medicine, and it is an essential screening task in the process of disease treatment, as it evaluates the strength and weakness of the congenital constitution, predicts the recovery period and severity of the disease, and identifies drug toxicity sensitivity. Iris Genomics Medicine has been developed as a treatment for constitutional disorder, and is an integrated treatment to achieve metabolic harmony, including nutrition, hormone, and autonomic nervous system balance, by analyzing individual deviations in the cold and heat management of the Sasang constitution in relation to the brain hormone system and identifying the root cause of diseases.

3. What is the procedure for the iris genome treatment you administer?

Examination, interview, hospital treatment, and prescription are the four major steps.

Examination Survey pertaining to constitution and lifestyle, physical exam (blood pressure, pulse, height, weight, InBody, etc.), diagnostic exam (autonomic nerve stress test, body temperature diagnosis, etc.), and precise iris imaging
Doctor’s interview Identification of constitutional classification, congenital weaknesses, autonomic nervous system imbalances, and type of stress response.
Hospital treatment Cupping, muscle acupoint acupuncture (local blood circulation and restoration of muscle and nervous system damage), constitutional acupuncture (autonomic nervous system imbalance and correction of imbalance in strength and weakness in the internal organs according to constitution), acupoint laser treatment, medicinal acupuncture, infrared therapy, electronic moxibustion, electroacupuncture, etc.
Prescription Life management guidance such as herbal medicine prescription (nutrition reinforcement, endocrine hormone supplementation, blood circulation improvement, energy supplementation, accumulated waste and toxic discharge, anti-aging action and chronic inflammation treatment), dietary prescription, and exercise prescription.

4. Is it possible for Caucasians to receive genomics-based treatment through iris diagnosis? Don't Caucasians have vastly varying iris colors and structures?

European countries such as Russia and Germany actually represent the birthplace of iris medicine, and it is currently being actively researched in the UK, France, and Italy. Similar to how Europeans and Asians have different skin and hair colors, their iris colors also vary significantly. Many Europeans have blue eyes, while the majority of Asians have brown and black eyes. Korean irises appear to be identical at first glance, but there are numerous color differences, and these color differences are also a criterion for distinguishing constitution. The portion of the iris where each organ of the body projects, regardless of whether the individual is Asian or otherwise, is the same, just as the structures of the organs are the same; therefore, diagnosis and prescription are possible because the iris is essentially identical. There have been few studies on brown eyes in overseas iris studies, but Korean iris medicine, which combines iris medicine and Sasang medicine, offers the advantage of being applicable to 70–80% of the country's population with brown irises.

5. As the president of the Korean Society of Iris Medicine and founder of SKI, I am aware of your efforts as a leader in advancing iris research. What specific (research) activities are you conducting?

In 1998, approximately 80 oriental doctors, physicians, scientists, and professors established the Korean Iridology and Medicine Association, and various iris-related findings have been presented at academic conferences since then. From 2002, when iris diagnosis was designated as an oriental medical practice, we have conducted ongoing research on irises. In 2009, we obtained a patent for a method of iris image analysis that classifies the iris into four distinct image types. After that, the objective arm constitution diagnosis system and evaluation method for arm constitution monitoring were granted a patent in 2020 (inventors: Choi Ga-hye, Lim Yeong-woo). The Korean Iridology and Medicine Association, comprising Korean doctors of the Association of Korean Medicine, was established in 2015 to conduct research and development for the convergence of iris medicine and Korean constitutional medicine. In 2017, we launched an expert iris constitutional medicine course that has produced approximately 70 specialists to date, and we continue to promote expert group training to this day. In 2019, we conducted research with the KAIST AI team into the development of AI technology for iris diagnosis, and in 2020, we collaborated with Iritech Corporation to develop an AI program for screening and diagnosing vulnerable groups for COVID-19 via iris diagnosis. In 2021, 19 iris medical specialists founded SKI, continued iris analysis and iris medical research, and constructed a platform for iris-based health solutions.

6. I've heard that your company has been selected as the host for the Information and Communication Industry Promotion Agency's AI voucher project. What does this business entail specifically?

We conduct research for digitization of iris diagnosis. It is a platform that provides information on individual constitution via AI-based iris image analysis, as well as health information for maintaining a healthy diet and herbal medicine prescriptions based on iris analysis. Through a member oriental clinic of the Association of Korean Medicine, an oriental medicine pilot project for the application of related technologies will also be conducted. In the era of personalized medicine and integrated customized medical care, if the oriental medicine constitution-based iris analysis program solution is established as a health screening test on the digital health market, I believe it will be of great assistance to the objectification and scientificization of oriental medicine. Based on this, when the program is developed, we plan to create an iris diagnosis application that allows anyone to receive iris diagnosis simply by taking a picture with a smartphone.

7. Have you established specific objectives and visions for iris diagnosis?

Iris diagnosis is a genetic diagnosis method that was used in traditional European medicine during the 1950s. Based on the iris constitution, which characterizes health and disease types by establishing the constitutional premise, it thus shares many similarities with Korea’s constitutional medicine, Sasang. In this regard, it is a diagnostic technique that can serve as a bridge between Korean and western medicine. It supplements traditional Korean medicine, which lacks objectivity and scientific analysis, with objective genetic and pathological data, and Western medicine with holistic biometric data from a functional perspective and mind-body monism. If the most competitive sectors of Korea in the future are electronic engineering, biotechnology, and health medicine, our goal is to contribute to the globalization of K-medicine, a new form of medicine that can create synergy by combining traditional oriental medicine, which has existed for more than 500 years since Donguibogam, and Western medicine.

References : Korean Iridology and Medicine Association Website

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