IT is often said that a person's eyes are a window to the soul.

Pupils dilate when we are in love or feel frightened but according to some natural health practitioners they can also give away medical conditions lurking within the human body.

Iridology, loosely transcribed from 'eye diagnosis', is based on the belief that patterns, flecks, colours and markings on the iris betray illness past and present, disease and allergies.

Practitioners claim each part of the eye maps specific parts of the body, much as reflexologists believe with feet, and these conditions can be treated with a mixture of special vitamins, minerals and herbs.

Now this branch of alternative medicine is on offer in Ryedale and for £60, people can have their eyes scanned, read and analysed to unlock the key to different complaints, both medical and emotional.

Leeds-based iridologist Susan Laing is holding sessions at Kirkbymoorside Natural Health Centre, with clinics to help those who feel they will benefit from her alternative techniques.

The former chiropodist changed career when she discovered the remarkable benefits of the practice after battling chronic fatigue for a number of years.

She said: "I was suffering from an illness which conventional medicine did nothing to alleviate. Even though I worked in a hospital I found that prescription drugs weren't helpful and I turned to a naturopath for help. After being seen by an iridologist I was amazed by what they could tell from analysing the iris and I changed my diet and lifestyle, which cured my constant fatigue.

"From then I knew that was the career I wanted to follow and I have never looked back."

Patients have pictures taken of their eyes using a special machine and these images are fed into a computer which magnifies the pupil 80 times.

From this Susan reads different specks, patterns and colours on the eye based on a chart to diagnose problems in specific parts of the body.

Although Iridology is a practice that is not recognised by mainstream medicine she reckons it holds the key to different problems, which she says conventional practices cannot always pinpoint.

She added: "I like to think of the eyes as being a map of a general health and the different patterns acts as sign posts as to what might be wrong. It's really detective work. One symptom is often caused by another problem in another part of the body. It can often be solved by a change in lifestyle and taking vitamins or different herbs. After three years of practicing I'm learning with each different client who walks through my door and it's tremendously satisfying to help people who have been suffering and had nowhere else to turn."

Susan holds sessions at the Kirkbymoorside Natural Health Centre, Tinley Garth every month. For more information contact 01751 430335. Each session lasts about an hour-and-a-half and costs £60.