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== Methods ==

== Methods ==

===Preparation===

===Dilutions===

All homeopathic remedies are created through repeated dilution of a substance.Remedies made with a soluble substance are made by diluting the substance with water and/or alcohol and vigorously shaking it. The resulting solution is then repeated diluted with the same process until the desired dilution is reached. On the other hand, when a homeopath uses a non-soluble substance to make a remedy, he would grind the substance and dilute it with lactose.<ref>http://www.quackwatch.com/01QuackeryRelatedTopics/homeo.html</ref>

All homeopathic remedies are created through repeated dilution of a substance.Remedies made with a soluble substance are made by diluting the substance with water and/or alcohol and vigorously shaking it. The resulting solution is then repeated diluted with the same process until the desired dilution is reached. On the other hand, when a homeopath uses a non-soluble substance to make a remedy, he would grind the substance and dilute it with lactose. The number of times a substance is diluted by 10 times its volume is marked with the number and X, while the number of times it is diluted by 100 times its volume is written as the number and C. In a 5X remedy, for instance, the substance would have been diluted so the solution has one part of the substance per 10^5 parts of the solvent. Most remedies are of a dilution between 6X to 30X.<ref name=quackwatch>http://www.quackwatch.com/01QuackeryRelatedTopics/homeo.html</ref>

===Provings===

===Provings===

Homeopaths conduct "provings" to find new substances with which they would make new remedies. In a proving, participants are given a particular substance without being told of what it is, and are asked to report on what effects the substance had on their bodies.  <ref>http://homeopathyeurope.org/research/provings/</ref>The data collected from the proving would then, theoretically, allow the homeopath to understand what illnesses a remedy made from the substance would cure; such a remedy would supposedly cure illnesses with symptoms similar to those caused by the substance itself.

Homeopaths conduct "provings" to find new substances with which they would make new remedies. In a proving, participants are given a particular substance without being told of what it is, and are asked to report on what effects the substance had on their bodies.  <ref>http://homeopathyeurope.org/research/provings/</ref>The data collected from the proving would then, theoretically, allow the homeopath to understand what illnesses a remedy made from the substance would cure; such a remedy would supposedly cure illnesses with symptoms similar to those caused by the substance itself.

== Homeopath beliefs ==

==Theoretical Plausibility==

===Memory of Water===

Homeopathy has many implausible aspects which do not make sense under out current understanding of [[physics]] and [[medicine]]. The high dilutions used in many remedies preclude them from having any effect on the body; a remedy with a dilution of 24X or above is highly unlikely to contain a single molecule of the original substance it's made out of, while common homeopathic remedies can have a dilution number of up to 30X. <ref name=quackwatch/> Homeopathy's core teaching that the potency of a drug increases with dilution goes against current medical understanding, which states that, in most cases, the potency of a drug increases as dosage goes ''up'', not ''down''.

One of the most crucial theories regarding the viability of homeopathy, water memory, was first claimed to have been observed in 1988 by a French scientist, only to be debunked two months later.<ref>http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,968080,00.html</ref> The idea behind it is that water retains an imprint of whatever chemicals have been swimming in it.  This would vindicate Hahnemann's Potentisation, as even when homeopathic remedies are diluted down to the final product without even a single molecule remaining in the solution, the remedy could still have an effect.<!--more to come, I assure you.  I just need to find more sources-->

 

In order to explain away the fact that homeopathy is physically implausible, homeopaths hold that water has an ability to receive an imprint of the chemicals it had interacted with, and that it therefore would be able to retain the pharmacological effects of a substance, even if it had been diluted to the point that it's no longer existent in the final remedy. Water memory, was first claimed to have been observed in 1988 by a French scientist, only to be debunked two months later.<ref>http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,968080,00.html</ref>  

== See also ==

== See also ==