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Glite Dictionary
💊 A plant drug 🌿 A medicinal plant
rauwolfia

rauwolfia

1 9.9
Medicines from plant roots that lower blood pressure and make people calm
  • noun
  • /ˌrɔːwʊlˈfiːə/
  • Specialized
translation icon : reserpina
  • The rauwolfia compounds are often used in traditional medicine for their antihypertensive effects.

Examples

  • Doctors may prescribe rauwolfia for patients who need help managing their high blood pressure.

  • The principal rauwolfia alkaloids being used in psychiatric practice are reserpine (Serpasil), deserpidine (Harmonyl), and rescinnamine (Moderil).

    Blog text (32)

  • As with the phenothiazine derivatives, the place of the rauwolfia alkaloids in the potential armamentarium of the interrogation has not been established.

    Blog text (32)

  • The rauwolfia plant's roots contain alkaloids that are valued in herbal medicine for their calming properties.

Synonyms

reserpine
vsrauwolfia
  • Specialized
1 9.9

A drug made from a plant root that treats high blood pressure

is a broader group of alkaloid compounds from the plant not a single drug

Compounds

genus Rauwolfia
  • Specialized
9.9

A group of tropical shrubs and small trees that are sometimes poisonous and used in medicine

Rauwolfia serpentina
  • Specialized
9.9

A climbing shrub from India with twisted roots used in medicine for high blood pressure

Surface Forms

rauwolfia singular
rauwolfias plural

Etymology

Rauwolfia as a medicine name comes from the plant linked to the collector Rauwolf: people made medicines from those plant roots, so the word came to mean the active plant chemicals and drugs. That's why rauwolfia medicines are known for lowering blood pressure and for a calming effect.