Homeopathy is a form of alternative drug first defined by Samuel Hahnemann. Homeopathic practitioners maintain that an ill person can be treated using a substance that can produce, in a healthy person, symptoms similar to those of the illness. According to homeopaths, serial dilution, with shaking between each dilution, removes the toxic effects of the remedy while the qualities of the substance are retained by the diluent (water, sugar or alcohol). Practitioners select treatments according to a patient consultation that explores the physical and psychological state of the patient, both of wich are considered important to selecting the remedy
