Doctors advise against overdosing on the drug. Aspirin is a real panacea, a pill for everything, known for its analgesic and anti-inflammatory properties.
It is used to reduce fever, relieve pain (headache, toothache, backache, joint pain), treat fever, arthritis, rheumatism and many other diseases.
1. Popularity
Studies have shown that low doses of aspirin reduce the risk of death from a heart attack and the risk of stroke. There is also indirect evidence that this drug is effective in preventing colorectal cancer, although scientists do not fully understand how this works.
40 thousand tons of aspirin are produced annually. In the United States alone, over 50 million people regularly take 10 to 20 billion of these tablets. This makes it one of the most widely used drugs in the history of medicine.
2. Ancient
What is commonly called aspirin is actually the compound acetylsalicylic acid. And medicines made from willow and other plants rich in salicylates have been known since ancient times. They are described on ancient Sumerian clay tablets and in the ancient Egyptian medical papyrus of Ebers, created around 1550 BC. Around 400 BC, Hippocrates mentioned the use of salicylic tea to relieve fever. Willow bark extract was also used in medieval medicine.
However, the latter had a serious side effect: it caused severe abdominal pain and nausea, because salicylic acid irritates the stomach.
3. Merits
It has long been believed that the first samples of acetylsalicylic acid in a form suitable for medical use were synthesized on August 10, 1897, by the German chemist Felix Hoffmann. He worked in a Bayer laboratory in Elberfeld, Germany.
According to legend, Hoffmann began researching acetylsalicylic acid to find a cure for his father’s rheumatism. His father complained about the bitter taste of sodium salicylate, the only medicine at that time capable of relieving joint pain.
Large doses of this substance (6-8 g), used to treat arthritis, irritated the stomach lining, causing severe pain and discomfort. Thus, filial love supposedly led to the discovery of a medicine that saved generations from pain. However, later evidence emerged that the main credit for the discovery of chemically pure and stable salicylic acid through acetylation belongs to another Bayer employee, Arthur Eichengruen. He was Hoffmann’s supervisor. However, the company discreetly omitted his contribution to the creation of the medicine so as not to upset the National Socialist Party, which came to power in Germany in 1933, because… Arthur was Jewish.
Eichengruen was sent to the Theresienstadt concentration camp.
It was not until 1949 that he published an article in the journal Pharmazie, describing how Hoffmann had synthesized acetylsalicylic acid on his behalf. However, Hoffmann was unaware of the matter.
4. Godfather
Salicylic acid, from which aspirin was later derived, was named after the willow tree – the Latin name for this tree is Salix. The compound was named after the German chemist Johann Andreas Büchner, who isolated it from willow bark in 1828.
The popular brand name “Aspirin” was created by the German company Bayer. The word is based on the name of another plant – Spiraea ulmaria. Salicylic acid was also obtained from it. “A” was added to the four letters spir to emphasize the acetylation reaction of the acid. In at the end was added simply for euphony.
5. Harm
Aspirin is considered a relatively common and safe drug. It is no wonder that it is available without a prescription. But in reality, this drug can cause serious harm if taken without consulting a doctor.
For example, aspirin can cause gastrointestinal bleeding, even though the tablets have a special coating designed to reduce the harm. This is logical: salicylic acid irritates the mucous membranes.
In addition, according to experts from the University of Buffalo, high doses of aspirin (8 to 12 tablets a day) can cause tinnitus and ringing in the ears (let the orchestra play!), and salicylic acid can damage the inner ear.
And finally – this drug sometimes causes a rare but very dangerous condition called Reye’s syndrome, or white liver disease, in children and adolescents aged 4 to 12 years. It is characterized by swelling of the brain and rapid accumulation of fat in the liver, leading to coma and even death.
Reye’s syndrome develops when viral fevers – flu, measles, chickenpox – are treated in children with high doses of aspirin. Therefore, aspirin should not be given to patients under 16 years of age.
Illustrative Photo by Anna Shvets: https://www.pexels.com/photo/white-medication-pill-on-blue-textile-3683079/
We acknowledge The European Times for the information.
