Digitoxin

/dɪˈdɪtɑːksɪn/ noun

Definition

A powerful heart medicine extracted from digitalis (foxglove) plants that regulates heartbeat and is used to treat heart failure and abnormal heart rhythms.

Etymology

From 'digitalis' (the plant) + '-in' (chemical suffix). First isolated in the 19th century and named for its source; remains one of the oldest cardiac drugs still in use today.

Kelly Says

Digitoxin saved millions of hearts in the 20th century—but it's a knife-edge drug because the dose that heals you and the dose that kills you are dangerously close, so doctors must monitor patients carefully!

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