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digitalis

(Encyclopedia)digitalis dĭjˌĭtălˈĭs [key], any of several chemically similar drugs used primarily to increase the force and rate of heart contractions, especially in damaged heart muscle. The effects of the d...

digitoxin

(Encyclopedia)digitoxin: see digitalis.

digoxin

(Encyclopedia)digoxin: see digitalis.

ouabain

(Encyclopedia)ouabain: see digitalis.

medicinal plants

(Encyclopedia)medicinal plants, plants used as natural medicines. This practice has existed since prehistoric times. There are three ways in which plants have been found useful in medicine. First, they may be used ...

figwort

(Encyclopedia)CE5 Figwort, Scrophularia lanceolata figwort, common name for some members of the Scrophulariaceae, a family comprising chiefly herbs and small shrubs and distributed widely over all continents. T...

herbal medicine

(Encyclopedia)herbal medicine, use of natural plant substances (botanicals) to treat and prevent illness. The practice has existed since prehistoric times and flourishes today as the primary form of medicine for pe...

congestive heart failure

(Encyclopedia)congestive heart failure, inability of the heart to expel sufficient blood to keep pace with the metabolic demands of the body. In the healthy individual the heart can tolerate large increases of work...

poisonous plant

(Encyclopedia)poisonous plant, any plant possessing a property injurious to man or animal. Plants may be poisonous to the touch (e.g., poison ivy, poison sumac), or orally toxic (e.g., poison hemlock, deadly amanit...

steroids

(Encyclopedia)CE5 Two examples of steroids steroids, class of lipids having a particular molecular ring structure called the cyclopentanoperhydro-phenanthrene ring system. Steroids differ from one another in th...

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