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Digitalis Purpurea in brief, summarized on digital

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Digitalis purpurea	Titles the chapter on digital drugs → rich in cardioactive glycosides and saponins
Digitalis purpurea and dangerousness	Prohibited in phytotherapy because toxic → opium of the heart Admitted in medicine: prescribed by doctors → the patient must be constantly monitored
Genre: Digitalis	Digitalis purpurea : Digitalis purpurea subsp. Purpurea Digitalis purpurea subsp. Heywoodii Digitalis purpurea subsp. Mariana Digitalis lanata → extremely active Digitalis nervosa → very powerful pharmacological virtues Digitalis grandiflora, Digitalis ferruginea, Digitalis micrantha → highly toxic and thermolabile active ingredients
Digitalis purpurea : etymology of the term	Digitalis derives from "digitas", finger (then adapted into "thimble") → allusion to the morphology of the corolla of flowers Digitalis lanata: the name alludes to the woolly aspect of the plant
Digitalis purpurea: botanical description	Family: Scrophulariaceae Description of the plant: a precious flower that in the past has treated so many hearts, a biennial and rustic plant Root: large and particularly branched Stem: hairy Height: 1-2 m Leaves: spirally arranged, oblong oval, hairy, with a small winged petiole New leaves: sparse, lanceolate, sessile (upper leaves) or petiolate (lower) Flowers: tubular, bell-shaped and pendulous, organized in clusters Flower color: purple on the outside and white on the inside. Fruit: small, sharp capsule or septicide capsule Seeds: tiny seeds enclosed in the fruit Diffusion: wooded, wild or arid areas of one hundred Europe Soil: loves loose soils, with a slightly acid pH, preferably enriched with organic material
Digitalis purpurea: drug	Fresh and dried leaves
Digitalis purpurea: active	Active glucosides called cardenolides (eg Gitoxina, digitoxin, gitaloxigenin and gitaloxin) Saponin glucosides (eg. Digitonoside, gitonoside (seeds), tigonoside, etc.), and digitanol-heterosides (diginoside, digifolein, etc.) flavonoids (eg Luteolin) Caffeic acid, citric acid, ascorbic acid, p-coumaric acid (traces)
Digitalis drugs	Very low therapeutic index → limit between therapeutic dose and very thin toxic → extremely dangerous
Digitalis purpurea: toxicity	FUI: the leaves of Digitalis purpurea cannot contain less than 0.3% of cardenolidic heterosides, expressed as digitoxin (dry leaves) 40 g of fresh leaves or 10 g of shoals can kill a man Amount of heterosides in fresh leaves: variable (1.6-4.8 mg)
Digitalis purpurea : activity	D. purpurea and D. lanata are used in the medical field for the extraction of cardiotonic assets Activity: cardiotonica negative chronotropic (bradycardia) positive batmotrope negative dromotropa → improvement of cardiac function + enhancement of renal plasma flow and glomerular filtration (diuretic properties)
Digitalis purpurea: uses	Allopathic medicine: treatment of congestive cardiac alterations, fibrillation and paroxysmal supra-ventricular tachycardia Homeopathy: to counteract arthritis and digestive difficulties
Digitalis purpurea intoxication	arrhythmias Abdominal pains Nausea He retched Anorexia Gastrointestinal disorders in general Dizziness Insomnia Mental confusion Visual deficits Palpitations Syncope