ergotamine
1
9.9
A drug from a fungus that tightens blood vessels and treats migraine headaches
- noun
- /ˌɜrɡəˈtæmiːn/
- Specialized
:
ergotamina
- In clinical settings, ergotamine is commonly used to treat patients experiencing severe migraine headaches.
Examples
-
That ergotamine is a miracle.
-
If you often suffer from migraines, your doctor might prescribe ergotamine to help relieve the pain.
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Many migraine sufferers find that ergotamine effectively constricts blood vessels and reduces their symptoms.
Synonyms
1
8.6
Medicine that treats severe migraine and cluster headaches
is limited to migraine treatment and does not include cluster headaches
Surface Forms
ergotamine singular
ergotamines plural
Morphology
Etymology
The word ergotamine comes from ergot, the fungus that grows on grain and whose name once meant 'spur' because it looks like a small spur, and from -amine, a common ending meaning 'a chemical with nitrogen'. So ergotamine is the nitrogen chemical taken from ergot, which is why it is used to narrow blood vessels and treat migraines.