Talk:William Withering

Style for publications
Does the list under "Publications" contain the exact names of the works? If so, Wiki-style for short works (papers, essays) is double quotes. Eg. I've also applied Wiki-style to the "Further reading" list - I hope this is OK. Cheers, JackyR | Talk 12:41, 18 September 2006 (UTC)
 * 1773 "Experiments on different kinds of Marle found in Staffordshire" Phil Trans. 63: 161-2

Yes they virtually all are the titles as published. Thanks v much for letting me know, and for tidying up the further reading list - I have corrected the refs. where appropriate! Kitb 21:37, 4 December 2006 (UTC)

Withering As Investigator
Shouldn't somebody write an account of Withering's investigations into folk medicine? That's how he discovered the effects of foxglove, and from whence he derived _digitalis_. It would be no shame to discuss his researches. 128.147.28.1 (talk) 14:25, 7 January 2008 (UTC)

I added the fact that Withering obtained his knowledge of Foxglove in CHF from a Shropshire herbalist, who had successfully used a polyherbal formula to treat CHF. Withering deduced that Foxglove was the active ingredient, and this is the basis of the drug today, which has a very narrow therapeutic window. It is an interesting historical fact that despite the fact that the medical profession learned of the use of Digitalis from the herbalist community, it was one of the first herbs that was "banned" from use by non-medical users. It would be interesting to know what the original formula contained, as recent research in botanical medicine has suggests that various constituents, even within a single plant, can moderate the overall therapeutic effect. It could be that this original formula may be just as effective if not more so than the isolated alkaloid. Phytogreen (talk) 18:11, 18 December 2008 (UTC) Phytogreen

Dropsy or Congestive heart failure
I note that there is an existing available link to dropsy which isn't used. Does anyone know which is the best link in this context? JRPG (talk) 11:53, 22 August 2009 (UTC)

Imaginative sentence removed
I have deleted from the section Discovery of Digitalis this comment on the woman who allegedly gave Withering the details, as unencyclopaedic. It could be reinstated if it could be proven to be a quotation from a real person.

Her first name must be Topsy as she just grows and grows. Cloptonson (talk) 20:27, 21 June 2016 (UTC)

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