A homeopath is a practitioner of homeopathy — the alternative medical system based on treating illness with highly diluted preparations of substances that, in larger doses, would produce similar symptoms. Homeopaths take detailed case histories covering physical complaints, temperament, and lifestyle, then select a “remedy” matched to the patient’s total symptom picture. Training and regulation vary enormously by country — from licensed medical practice to unregulated lay practice. Critics note that homeopathic preparations, diluted beyond the point where any molecules of the original substance remain, are pharmacologically indistinguishable from water or sugar pills; rigorous trials find no effect beyond placebo. Patients should never abandon effective treatment for serious disease in favour of homeopathy.