Objective: Iridology is a complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) that involves the diagnosis of medical conditions by noting irregularities of the pigmentation in the iris. Iris constitution has a strong familial aggregation and heredity is implicated. Apolipoprotein E (apoE) gene polymorphism is one of the most well-studied genetic markers for vascular diseases, including hypertension. In this study, we investigated the relationship between iris constitution and apoE polymorphism in hypertensives.
Design and subjects: We classified 87 hypertensives and 79 controls according to iris constitution and determined the apoE genotype of each individual.
Results: A significantly higher percentage of individuals with neurogenic constitutions was found in the hypertensive group when compared with the control group (chi(2) = 40.244, p < 0.001). In addition, a neurogenic constitution increased the relative risk for hypertension for subjects with an apo epsilon2 or an epsilon4 allele (chi(2) = 4.086, p = 0.049, odds ratio = 2.633, confidence interval = 1.004-6.905).
Conclusions: Our results imply that a neurogenic iris constitution enhances the relative risk for hypertension in subjects with the apo epsilon2 or epsilon4 allele. Furthermore, we attempted to evaluate the efficacy of iris constitutional medicine and to find an association with hypertension.