Freshly obtained leaves of the foxglove plants are used to prepare the homeopathic remedy digitalis. The leaves are collected just before the plants begin to blossom in their second year of existence. Subsequently, the leaves are cleaned and expressed to obtain their juice. The juice is then blended with alcohol and diluted to desired level to obtain the homeopathic remedy digitalis. As with preparing any other homeopathic remedy, even digitalis does not retain the slightest trace of the toxic leaves of foxglove.
The herb foxglove is known to possess a number of therapeutic properties and is specially used to treat conditions related to the heart and circulatory system. In ancient times, Britons used this herb to cure wounds. While in conventional medicine foxglove is a remedy for heart failure and irregular heart beat, in homeopathy, digitalis, prepared from the toxic leaves of the foxglove plant, is an important medication to treat heart disorders. In homeopathy, digitalis is widely used to cure an extremely sluggish pulse or an unbalanced, sporadic pulse that is related to certain conditions and symptoms, such as heart failure, queasiness even at the sight or smell of food, and debility accompanied by a slight, tumbling sensation in the stomach. Heart patients who might be requiring this homeopathic remedy most may also suffer from liver problems, for instance hepatitis. Foxglove is the source for the pharmaceutical drug Digoxin that has been widely used in the past to treat cases of congestive heart failure. In homeopathy, digitalis, prepared from the toxic leaves of foxglove, is a very important medication that helps to cure a very sluggish, irregular and sporadic pulse, usually below 60 beats per minute. Interestingly enough, this homeopathic remedy may also be prescribed for patients who might be suffering from very fast and uneven pulse too. Patients having an irregular and rapid pulse often have a sensation as if the heart would stop beating any moment. The condition of patients enduring angina (any attack of painful spasms marked by sensations of suffocating) actually deteriorates when they exert themselves physically, are very excited and/ or from having sexual intercourse. In such cases, the pain spreads to the left arm resulting in the debility of the arm. Turning to the homeopathic remedy digitalis in such cases, helps to cure the condition as well as provide relief from the associated symptoms. Patients for whom the homeopathic medication digitalis is most suitable always suffer from a strong fear of death. They are apprehensive that making any movement or even walking may result in their untimely death. They also suffer from nervousness, grief and insomnia owing to the intense pain they endure in the heart. In addition, physical as well as emotional exertions, for instance being disappointed in love and misery may result in palpitations - exceptionally rapid and irregular heart beat. Generally, such patients become all the more sad and melancholic when they listen to music. The homeopathic remedy digitalis has a vital role to play in curing all ailments that are somehow related to the heart, wherein the pulse is feeble, irregular, sporadic, and exceptionally low as well as when the health conditions are accompanied by dropsy (fluid build up) in the external as well as internal parts of the body. This medication is also effective in curing debility and dilation or expansion of the heart muscles (myocardium). Digitalis is indicated primarily in the case of collapse of compensation and particularly when auricular fibrillation (very fast awkward contractions of the atria of the heart resulting in a deficiency of harmonization between heart beat and pulse beat) become entrenched. Such patients experience a sluggish pulse beat when they are lying down, but their pulse beat become erratic and dicrotic (double that of the heart beat) when they are in a sitting posture. In case the patients have recovered from a rheumatic fever, they may also experience auricular flutter (an irregularity of the heart beat wherein the contractions of the atrium surpass in number those of the ventricle) and auricular fibrillation. Such patients may also have an extremely sluggish pulse and endure heart block. In homeopathy, digitalis is also a great remedy for organic heart ailments, for instance, extreme debility and a sensation of diminish strength, vertigo or wooziness, a cold sensation on the skin and erratic respiration. This medication is also beneficial for people who suffer from cardiac tetchiness and visual problems following tobacco use; jaundice caused by induration (hardening of tissues) and hypertrophy (abnormal enlargement) of the liver. People who endure heart diseases accompanied by jaundice would also find digitalis an effective remedy. Patients who require this homeopathic medicine most are those who become unconscious frequently and suffer from a feeling as if they are on the verge of death. Owing to the imbalance in blood circulation to all parts of the body, their appearance often turns bluish. Such patients are inclined to exhaustion even due to trivial physical exertion and may often collapse. Taking the homeopathic medicine digitalis helps to invigorate the muscles of the heart.
The plant foxglove, which forms the basis for the homeopathic remedy digitalis, is a flowering herb belonging to the family Plantaginaceae. Earlier, foxglove was classified in the family Scrophulariaceae, but later included in the larger family Plantaginaceae. This plant species is indigenous to Europe and found growing naturally in most regions of the continent.