The best way to heal a patient is to make the symptoms worse, thus helping the body heal. So if a patient complains of stomach ache, the substance given would be something that causes nausea. The substance given may be diluted with distilled water, alcohol, or powdered sugar until there is less than one part per million of the substance in the mixture, which may still have some chemical effect. The mixture is systematically shaken to impart the power of the substance to the water, alcohol or sugar. Following a program of regular doses of the diluted substance, a patient will supposedly get well.
Extraordinary claims require extraordinary proofs and the burden of proof is on the claimant.
The doses are so diluted that the illness causing substance is virtually gone. The extraordinary proof expected of such extraordinary claims has not been forthcoming. There is no evidence that making symptoms worse helps patients get well. There is no evidence that shaking highly dilute solutions changes the water, alcohol or sugar in any way. In addition, research indicates that homeopathic treatments are ineffective.