 Homeopathy, or homeopathic medicine, is a medical philosophy and practice based on

the idea that the body has the ability to heal itself. Homeopathy was founded in 1796 by
the German physician Samuel Hahnemann and has been widely practiced throughout
Europe.
 Homeopathic medicine views symptoms of illness as normal responses of the body as it
attempts to regain health.
 Its practitioners, called homeopaths, believe that a substance that causes symptoms of a
disease in healthy people would cure similar symptoms in sick people; this doctrine is
called similia similibus curentur, or "like cures like".
 Homeopathic preparations are termed remedies and are made using 
homeopathic dilution.
 The selected substance is repeatedly diluted until the final product is chemically
indistinguishable from the diluent
 Practitioners claim that such preparations, upon oral intake, can treat or cure disease.

Samuel Hahnemann Monument, Washington D.C., with

the inscription Similia Similibus Curentur – "Like cures
Like"
 Practitioners rely on two types of reference when prescribing: Materia medica and
repertories.
 A homeopathic materia medica is a collection of "drug pictures", organized
alphabetically. A homeopathic repertory is a quick reference version of the materia
medica that indexes the symptoms and then the associated remedies for each.
 Preparation
 Homeopathy uses animal, plant, mineral, and synthetic substances in its preparations,
generally referring to them using Latin names.[Examples include arsenicum album
 (arsenic oxide), natrum muriaticum (sodium chloride or table salt), Lachesis muta (the
venom of the bushmaster snake), opium, and thyroidinum (thyroid hormone).
 Homeopathic pills are made from an inert substance (often sugars, typically lactose),
upon which a drop of liquid homeopathic preparation is placed and allowed to evaporate.
Dilutions
 Hahnemann claimed that undiluted doses caused reactions, sometimes dangerous ones, and
thus that preparations be given at the lowest possible dose. [
 The general method of dilution is serial dilution, where solvent is added to part of the previous
mixture,
 Three main logarithmic dilution scales are in regular use in homeopathy. Hahnemann created the
"centesimal" or "C scale", diluting a substance by a factor of 100 at each stage. There is also a
decimal dilution scale (notated as "X" or "D") in which the preparation is diluted by a factor of 10
at each stage.
 A 2C dilution works out to one part of the original substance in 10,000 parts of the solution. In
standard chemistry, this produces a substance with a concentration of 0.01%. A 6C dilution ends
up with the original substance diluted by a factor of 100 −6 (one part in one trillion). The end
product is usually so diluted as to be indistinguishable from the diluent (pure water, sugar or
alcohol).The greatest dilution reasonably likely to contain at least one molecule of the original
substance is approximately 12C.

This bottle is labelled Arnica montana

 (wolf's bane) D6, i.e. the nominal dilution
is one part in a million (10-6).                     
A homeopathic preparation made from marsh tea:
the "15C" dilution shown here means the original
solution was diluted to 1/10  of its original
30

strength.
Provings
 As performed by Hahnemann, provings involved administering various preparations to healthy volunteers.
The volunteers were then observed, often for months at a time. They were made to keep extensive
journals detailing all of their symptoms at specific times throughout the day.
  At first Hahnemann used undiluted doses for provings, but he later advocated provings with preparations
at a 30C dilution, and most modern provings are carried out using ultra-dilute preparations.
 Provings are claimed to have been important in the development of the clinical trial, due to their early use
of simple control groups, systematic and quantitative procedures, and some of the first application of 
statistics in medicine. The lengthy records of self-experimentation by homeopaths have occasionally
proven useful in the development of modern drugs: For example, evidence that nitroglycerin might be
useful as a treatment for angina was discovered by looking through homeopathic provings, though
homeopaths themselves never used it for that purpose at that time.
 The first recorded provings were published by Hahnemann in his 1796 Essay on a New
Principle.His Fragmenta de Viribus (1805)contained the results of 27 provings, and his 1810 Materia
Medica Pura contained 65. For James Tyler Kent's 1905 Lectures on Homoeopathic Materia Medica, 217
preparations underwent provings and newer substances are continually added to contemporary versions.

Old homeopathic belladonna preparation.

Homeopathic preparation Rhus
toxicodendron, derived from poison ivy.
Lack of scientific evidence
The lack of convincing scientific evidence supporting its efficacy and its use of preparations without active ingredients have led to
characterizations of homeopathy as pseudoscience and quackery, or, in the words of a 1998 medical review, "placebo therapy at best
and quackery at worst".
Homeopathic remedies are biochemically inert, and have no effect on any known disease. Clinical trials have been conducted and
generally demonstrated no objective effect from homeopathic preparations
Critics of homeopathy commonly emphasize the dilutions involved in homeopathy, using analogies. [ One mathematically correct
example is that a 12C solution is equivalent to "a pinch of salt in both the North and South Atlantic Oceans. "One-third of a drop of
some original substance diluted into all the water on earth would produce a preparation with a concentration of about 13C. The high
dilutions characteristically used are often considered to be the most controversial and implausible aspect of homeopathy.

Mark Walport, the UK Government Chief Scientific Adviser and head of the Government Office for Science said "homeopathy is nonsense, it is non-science
Jack Killen, acting deputy director of the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine, says homeopathy "goes beyond current understanding of
chemistry and physics“
in the American Journal of Medicine, Michael Baum and Edzard Ernst – writing to other physicians – wrote that "Homeopathy is among the worst examples of
faith-based medicine...
Plausibility of dilutions

The exceedingly low concentration of homeopathic preparations, which often lack even a single  molecule of the
diluted substance, has been the basis of questions about the effects of the preparations since the 19th century.

Modern advocates of homeopathy have proposed a concept of "water memory", according to which water
"remembers" the substances mixed in it, and transmits the effect of those substances when consumed. This
concept is inconsistent with the current understanding of matter, and water memory has never been demonstrated
to have any detectable effect, biological or otherwise

Practitioners also hold that higher dilutions produce stronger medicinal effects. This idea is also inconsistent with
observed dose-response relationships, where effects are dependent on the concentration of the active ingredient in
the body.
Regulation
Homeopathy is fairly common in some countries while being uncommon in others; is highly regulated
in some countries and mostly unregulated in others. It is practiced worldwide and professional
qualifications and licences are needed in most countries.

Some homeopathic treatment is covered by the public health service of several European countries,
including France (being phased out in 2021), Scotland and Luxemborg. In other countries, such as
Belgium, homeopathy is not covered

In Germany, homeopathic treatments are covered by 70 percent of government medical plans, and
available in almost every pharmacy

Member states are required to ensure that homeopathic products are registered, although this
process does not require any proof of efficacy. In Bulgaria, Hungary, Latvia, Romania and Slovenia
homeopathy, by law, can only be practiced by medical practitioners.

In the United States each state is responsible for the laws and licensing requirements for homeopathy.
Homeopathy is one of the most commonly used forms of alternative medicines and it has a large
worldwide market.

The exact size is uncertain, but information available on homeopathic sales suggests it forms a large
share of the medical market.
New York, NY, Oct. 29, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Zion Market Research has published a new report
titled “Homeopathy Products Market by Product (Tincture, Dilutions, Biochemics, Ointments, Tablets, and Others),
by Source (Plants, Animals, and Minerals), and by Application (Analgesic & Antipyretic, Respiratory, Neurology,
Immunology, Gastroenterology, Dermatology, and Others): Global Industry Perspective, Comprehensive Analysis,
and Forecast, 2017 – 2024”

According to the report, the global homeopathy products market was valued at approximately USD 5.39
billion in 2017 and is expected to generate revenue of around USD 15.98 billion by the end of 2024,
growing at a CAGR of around 16.80% between 2018 and 2024.
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