Large-flowered foxglove is a perennial herbaceous plant 0.5–1.25 m tall. Rootstock short, simple. Stem erect, slightly branched, ventrally ventral, soft hairy. The leaves are alternate, lanceolate or oblong-lanceolate, unequally serrate, the lower ones are narrowed into a petiole, the upper ones are sessile, almost stalked. The flowers are pale yellow with brown veins, large ones are collected in a one-sided brush. Calyx, peduncles and fruits glandular hairy. The fruits are an ovoid capsule. Seeds numerous, wrinkled. Blooms in June-July.
Purple foxglove is a perennial plant. Its stems are from 30 to 120 cm high, erect, furrowed, evenly leafy, densely covered with simple and glandular hairs. The leaves are velvety, dark green above, hairy, below -grayish, tomentose, unevenly crenate along the edge, not often serrate; the flowers are thimble-shaped. Corolla tubular-campanulate red or purple. The fruit is a box; seeds are oval, very small. Blooms in June-July.
Both species are poisonous.
They grow wild in sparse forests, groves, forest edges, between shrubs, in areas protected from the winds, but with good lighting. Purple foxglove is cultivated in Ukraine, in Moldova, in the North Caucasus, in the wild, purple foxglove grows there.
Medicinal raw materials for both species are leaves collected during flowering, in the afternoon. The collected leaves are laid out in a thin layer on linen, honeycombs or sieves, dried immediately after collection and quickly, at a temperature not exceeding 80-90 ° C, in ovens or dryers, in attics under an iron roof, in a draft. Storage period 2 years.
Both types of foxglove are allowed to be used equally. The main active principles of foxglove grandiflora are glycosides (gitoxin and digitoxin) and saponins.
The use of foxglove in medical practice is based on the normalizing effect of cardiac glycosides on the biochemical processes and functions of the neuromuscular device of the heart, which leads to the restoration of hemodynamics and metabolism.
Digitalis glycosides have a very energetic action on the heart (list B) and gradually accumulate in the body, which makes it necessary to treat with digitalis products only under the direct supervision of a physician.
Digitalis is prescribed for chronic heart failure, atrial fibrillation, acute infectious diseases, thyrotoxicosis, etc. Digitalis preparations are slowly excreted from the body and therefore have a cumulative effect.
With prolonged use, overdose or hypersensitivity, digitalis can cause a toxic effect, the early signs of which are a sharp slowdown in the heart rate (less than 60 beats per minute), a decrease in diuresis in the presence of edema, a violation of the rhythm of cardiac activity, a decrease in conduction (prolongation of the PQ interval by electrocardiogram).
First aid comes down to the abolition of digitalis products and the appointment of potassium salts (potassium acetate or chloride), the introduction of atropine and camphor, and the use of warm baths.
When prescribing digitalis products, strict adherence to bed rest and medical supervision will be necessary.
Application
Infusion: 0.5 g per 200 ml; 1 st. spoon 3 times every day for heart failure.
Leaf powder: the highest single dose for adults is 0.1 g, the daily dose is 0.5 g (for heart failure).
It should be added that products of 5 types of foxglove are used for medical purposes: foxglove red or purple; foxglove large-flowered or doubtful; foxglove woolly; foxglove rusty; digitalis ciliated. The state pharmacology still includes foxglove purple, large-flowered, woolly, rusty.