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The Herbal History of Digitalis: Lessons for Alternative Medicine
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To the Editor: Popular and medical literature, such as the article by Dr. Eisenberg and colleagues,1 on use of alternative medicine and herbal remedies triggered memories of our student days in 1942-1945 when we were assailed by extensive discussions of the merits of various digitalis preparations. Methods of standardization were most important when evaluating which preparation to prescribe. Especially treacherous were the preparations labeled "Digitalis USP XI," which were about twice as potent as those labeled "Digitalis USP X."2
One of us (E.L.D.) who is an avid collector of old books recalled a relevant chapter in an old edition of The Dispensatory of the United States of America.3 It was enlightening to read the detailed description of the unique difficulties in elucidating the various properties of the wide variety of active compounds in the digitalis leaf. Cats, pigeons, frogs, and people were test subjects. There were descriptions of at least . . . [Full Text of this Article]
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