Digitalis and blue halos around lights), convulsions, and deadly disturbances of the heart. For a case description, see the paper by Lacassie. Vincent van Gogh's "Yellow Period" may have been influenced by digitalis therapy which, at the time, was thought to control seizures. As noted above, other oculotoxic effects of digitalis include generalized blurry vision, as well as seeing a "halo" around each point of light. In some instances, people have confused digitalis with the relatively harmless comfrey ("Symphytum") plant, which is often brewed into a tea, with fatal consequences. Other fatal accidents involve children drinking the water in a vase
Drug discovery products have often been used as the starting point for drug discovery. Until the Renaissance, the vast majority of drugs in Western medicine were plant-derived extracts. This has resulted in a pool of information about the potential of plant species as important sources of starting materials for drug discovery. Botanical knowledge about different metabolites and hormones that are produced in different anatomical parts of the plant (e.g. roots, leaves, and flowers) are crucial for correctly identifying bioactive and pharmacological plant properties. Identifying new drugs and getting them approved for market has proved to be a stringent process due to regulations