• Heart troubles with a slow and intermittent pulse
• Sensation as if the heart would stop if he moved, with cyanosis
• Jaundice with clay coloured stools and a slow pulse

Source: Vegetable kingdom
Synonyms: Foxglove
Family: Scrophulariaceae
Prover: Dr Hahnemann in 1805
Duration of Action: 40 to 50 days.
Miasmatic Background: Psora and sycosis
Temperament: Irritable
Diathesis: Scrofulous
Thermal Relationship: Chilly patient

Introduction and History: It is an excellent homeopathic remedy. It was used as a specific heart remedy before Hehnemann by the orthodox system of medicine. The name Digitalis is derived from ‘digitus’, a finger because of the finger shaped corolla. Purpurea is derived from the Latin word ‘purpureus’ meaning purple coloured because of its purple flowers. Digitalis has been used in medicine since the sixteenth century.

Habit and Habitat: It is cultivated in Europe and USA. In India, it grows in the Himalayan ranges. The plant is a biennial herb. It mostly grows in the sandy soil, on the edges of woods and thickets. It appears to grow naturally in many parts of the world. Roots are numerous, the upper surface of the leaf is deep green and grayish, the lower, pale green and more gray. The leaf is simple, the flowers are purple, bell shaped. They appear form June to August.

Preparation and Parts Used: Mother tincture is prepared from the leaves of the plant in the second year. Higher potencies are prepared from the mother tincture.

Constitution and Physiognomy: It is best suited to light haired persons, of scrofulous constitution, having blue skin and cyanosis. Children present with a pale complexion, light hair, scrofulous diathesis and have a weak heart.

Ailments From: High living, sexual excesses, tobacco, alcohol, etc.

Seat of Action (Pharmacodynamics): Heart, circulation, gastrointestinal tract, urogenital organs.

Active Principles (Chemical Constituents): The leaves contain a large number of glycosides but only three are important from the medicinal point of view. They are – digitoxin, gitoxin and gitatoxin.

Physio-pathological Changes (Pathology)

1. It acts on the heart producing irregular contraction through nerve stimulation, causing firm arterial contraction, slow heart beat, prolonged diastole and the blood pressure rises. Inhibitory activity of the cardiac peripheral end of the vagus is increased.
2. It acts on the gastrointestinal tract producing irritation, Vomiting and diarrhoea.
3. It acts on the kidneys producing oedema, resulting in diuresis and also suppression of urine.

Characteristic Mental Symptoms (Psychology)

1. Lascivious fancies, day and night.
2. Music is unbearable, aggravates all complaints.
3. Weak memory, thinking is difficult, very forgetful.
4. Internal anxiety, with great fear for the future.
5. Low spirited, very fearful and despondent.
6. Great anxiety and apprehension, tearfulness, worse at 6 pm.
7. Dullness of head with increased mental activity.

Characteristic Physical Guiding Symptoms

Heart affinity: Weak heart without valvular complications. Sensation as if heart would stop beating if he moved; intermittent pulse.

Dropsy: Dropsy in Bright’s disease with suppression of urine.

Prostration: Great prostration from slight exertion. Great weakness of the lower extremities, chest, etc.

Stools: Very light, delayed, ash coloured, white and involuntary.

Faintness and sinking: Faintness and a deathly sinking feeling in the pit of the stomach. Drowsiness, cannot bear to talk.

Nausea and vomiting: Nausea and vomiting from the smell of food with an awful sinking. Even the sight of food causes violent nausea.

Skin: Blue skin with cyanosis of lips, tongue, face, eyelids. Face is pale and cold, covered with cold sweat.

Liver: Liver enlarged, feels sore to touch, as if bruised. Stool, ashy white, tongue clean or whitish-yellow.

Relaxation: Involuntary emission of urine, wetting the bed at night. Sexual desire strongly excited with frequent erections, slow breathing.

Oedema: Dropsy of internal and external parts. Dropsical swelling of abdomen, knee joints. Dropsy with suppression of urine and cardiac debility.

Respiration: Very difficult respiration, has to take a deep breath. Respiration irregular, deep, Sighing.

Flushes of heat: Sudden flushes of heat followed by great nervous weakness, occurring at climacteric age.

illusion: Objects appear green or yellow. Colours of rainbow before the eyes, sparks before the eyes.

Pulse: Pulse full, very slow, weak, irregular: intermits, every third, fifth or seventh beat.

Distension: Distension of veins on lips, ears, lids and tongue. Dropsical swelling of abdomen.

Important Characteristic Features

Heart affections: Digitalis is known chiefly for its action on the heart; troubles are caused by high living, sexual excesses, and by consuming alcohol and tobacco. Weak heart without any valvular disease. The pulse is slow, but primarily strong. There is great weakness of the cardiac tissue, secondarily the pulse becomes weak. The quick pulse becomes irregular; intermits at every third, fifth and seventh beat.

Sudden sensation, as if the heart would stop beating if he moves. Frightful stitches in the region of the heart. Heart feels as if the blood stood still. There is weakness and numbness of the left arm, and often blueness of the surface of the body with cyanosis.

Sudden flushes of heat followed by nervous weakness. Faintness and sinking at the pit of the stomach with great prostration. Face pale, hippocratic; blue due to cyanosis. Distention of veins, difficult respiration with deep sighing. Oedema of internal and external parts of the body. Heart symptoms aggravated by motion, music and by sitting erect; feels better by pressure, profuse urination and in open air.

Kidney affections: For all kidney diseases, brought on or aggravated by alcoholism, sexual excess or tobacco, Digitalis is an excellent remedy and the indications are as follows :

(i) There is post-scarlatina dropsy, with suppressed urine.

(ii) Dropsy of both internal and external parts.

(iii) There is frequent urging to urinate with a very small quantity passing at a time giving no relief what so ever.

(iv) Urine is scanty, thick and turbid.

(v) Feeling of fullness of bladder continues even after urinating.

(vi) Strangury and frequent urging to urinate.

(vii) Urethra inflamed. Burning in urethra with purulent, thick and yellowish discharge.

General Modalities

Aggravation: Motion, talking, sitting erect, during sleep, emission, excitement, etc.

Amelioration: When stomach is empty, in open air, pressure, frequent micturition.

Remedy Relationships

Follows well: Bell, Bry, Cham, Lyc, Nux, Phos, Puls, Sep, Sulph, Verat.

Inimical: Chin.

Antidotes: Nit-ac, Apis, Camph, Calc, Nux-v, Op.

Comparison

Palpitation from least motion: Cimic, Dig.

Palpitation from least mental exertion: Calc-ar.

Vicarious menses in debilitated constitutions: Dig, Ip, Puls, Lyc.

Fears, unless on the move the heart will cease beating: Gels.

Fears heart would stop beating if she moved: Dig.

Pulse irregular and slow: Dig, Kalm, Verat-v.

Potency: 3x, 6x, 12x, 30x, 200, 1000.

Dosage: 3c to 30c.

Repetition: Maybe repeated till the patient shows the response of the remedy.

Therapeutic Value: Angina pectoris, Asthma, Bright’s disease, Cyanosis, Diarrhoea, Dropsy, Enlarged prostate, Gonorrhoea, Heart affection, Jaundice, Lung troubles, Palpitation, Pneumonia, Soreness of liver, Urinary troubles, Weakness.

Note: Cinchona antidotes the direct action of Digitalis but increases the anxiety.