The heart medicine with the longest staying power has been digitalis. Originally derived from a very pretty flower called the Foxglove, digitalis has been around and used for heart indications for close to 300 years now. Of course traditional medicine may have had the use of this flowering plant for medicinal uses. The man credited with the introduction of digitalis into the practice of medicine was William Withering. Withering was born in Wellington, Shropshire, England in 1741. He followed in the medical footsteps of his father who was an apothecary-surgeon. Withering received his MD degree in 1766. During Dr. Withering's time the plant was used for making a concoction that would “cure” or treat the indications for tuberculosis and an ailment called “dropsy”. Although this treatment cured the symptoms for removing excessive water and fluids in the blood it was also found to have an affect on the heart rate and circulation of vessels.
These early uses of the concoction made up of the foxglove plant really were uneventful until the later 1800's when more modern medicines were synthesized. As more and more word spread throughout the medical community of a new potent medicine for chest pain relief, doctors and patients were starting to accept the science of medicine of the day. Heart medications became more prevalent and use for specific purposes. The 19th century was a slow period for Digitalis. Few papers were written. Yet these papers showed that digitalis slowed the heart by acting on the vagus nerve. Also some papers showed that there were hypertensive actions on circulation due to digitalis. The main medical use for digitalis therefore still remained for the use of curing dropsy.
Due to misconceptions and misunderstandings of how digitalis worked, other uses ranging almost every letter in the alphabet were created. In a book entitled "Neale's Medical digest (1877) there were over 32 conditions for which digitalis was prescribed including adenitis, bronchitis to tuberculosis and typhoid. In this day and age the digitalis medication is given for reducing and stabilizing the heart rate and to also remove excessive fluid retention in the vessels. So, it stands to reason that although used for other ailments throughout time, digitalis is still around to cure the common.