Folk names: glove grass, forest bell, forest bells, forest bells.
Parts used: leaves (only with a standardized, i.e. exactly normalized, action evaluation!).
Pharmacy name: Magenta leaves - Digitalis purpureae folium (formerly: Folia Digitalis purpureae).
Botanical description. It is a two-year-old plant, but it can live longer on the plantations that produce the most medicinal material. In the first year, only a socket of very large and powerful leaves is formed from the branching root. In the second year, a straightened, unsprawling stem is stretched (up to 2 m high), on which the next leaves are located. The top of the escape ends with a one-sided floral brush. Large flowers have a five-toothed cup and a two-legged tubular-bell-shaped purple-red (sometimes white) crown, spotted from the inside. The fruit is a two-nested box. Blossoms from June to September. The foxglove prefers lime-poor mountain forests and is common in Western and Central Europe. More often than not, it is found in felling. In Garza, this beautiful and noticeable plant is so common that it is depicted in advertisements for foreign tourists. The active ingredients of this famous healing plant are the glycosides affecting the heart, which can easily decompose. The action of this medicinal plant is also caused by saponins, slime jams and one diuretic flavonglycoside. Healing effect in application. Purple foxglove is one of the most potent poisonous plants in Germany. Any independent use is strictly forbidden. Foxglove leaves, and above all the numerous galenic preparations received from them - the classic heart products that are used in violation of heart activity. They strengthen the contraction of the heart muscle, which accelerates blood circulation and removes through increased urinary tract undesirable accumulation of water in the body. But in addition to the classic action of the foxglove against the heart, there is one more thing that has been neglected for a long time and which is now again noticed: compresses with foxglove decoctions promote healing of wounds.
Use in homeopathy. The homeopathic remedy Digitalis purpurea is prepared from fresh leaves collected during blossoming and used primarily as a heart remedy. But foxglove in homeopathy is also used for urinary disorders, fluid retention and renal failure. In addition, it is also used for depression, insomnia, migraines with severe nausea, stagnant liver, jaundice and prostate diseases. The dosage is very different. Mostly D1 to D4 dilutions (3-5 times a day by 3-5 drops), but also higher dilutions, respectively, are applicable, and other doses. Therefore, even homeopathic foxglove preparations should not be self-treated.
Side effects. It has already been said that all kinds of foxgloves are very poisonous plants. Poisoning is manifested in arrhythmia, nausea, vomiting and diarrhea, severe pain in the body, blue lips, asphyxiation, cardiac arrest. First aid measures. Clean the stomach and intestines as soon as possible. Give a lot of activated carbon to bind poisonous substances, consult a doctor immediately. It is useful to drink strong coffee.
Note. It is worth mentioning that - in addition to purple - other types of foxgloves are used in pharmacology, because they also contain active heart glycosides. But it is the purple foxglove that was the first to be used in medicine, the first to be studied in more detail with the analysis of active substances. In Russia, for example, as a drug is used foxglove (Digitalis grandiflora Mill.). A serious competition to purple foxglove is already made by woolen foxglove (Digitalis lanata Ehrh.) - not least because it contains more easily excreted active substances and it is easier to grow. This is why this species should be considered here in particular.