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Images in Clinical Medicine
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Volume 331:1563 December 8, 1994 Number 23
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Digitalis purpurea (Foxglove)

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Figure 1. Digitalis purpurea (Foxglove).

In 1775 William Withering demonstrated that the leaves of the foxglove plant alleviated certain forms of dropsy (edema), and in 1799 John Ferriar ascribed their beneficial effects to a primary action on the heart. All physicians have learned about digitalis, but few recognize its plant source. Digoxin, the preparation most commonly used in the United States, is derived from related plants, Digitalis lanata and D. orientalis.

 


J. Lawrence Naiman, M.D.
Stanford University School of Medicine
Stanford, CA 94303


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