Aspirin a brief history
Aspirin a brief historyIntroduction
One hundred years ago, a young chemist in Germany made a discovery which, today, continues to ease our aches and pains, reduce our fevers, fight inflammation and save lives.
On August 10, 1897, this chemist, Felix Hoffmann, discovered a stable form of acetylsalicylic acid, the
active ingredient in aspirin. Hoffmann had been seeking a pain-relieving medication for his father's
debilitating rheumatism. Not only did the drug ease his father's pain and inflammation, but when it was marketed as aspirin by a company called Bayer two years later, it quickly became the world's most popular pain reliever.
One century after Hoffmann's discovery, aspirin continues to be the subject of extensive medical research and has gained recognition for life-saving properties as a cardiac care regime for millions of people. Bayer remains at the forefront as the major marketer of aspirin worldwide and is supporting research aimed at discovering new applications for its wonder drug, possibly helping to prevent everything from heart attacks to certain types of cancer and even Alzheimer's disease.
Aspirin: from willow tree to Nobel Prize
Aspirin's active ingredient, acetylsalicylic acid (ASA), is the commercially synthesized form of a naturally occurring compound whose uses can be traced back 2,000 years. The compound, called salicin, is found in the white willow tree. Around 200 B.C., Hippocrates, the Greek physician, discovered that chewing on willow bark could relieve pain and fever.
Although ASA was a proven pain reliever, no one really knew how it worked until more than 70 years after Hoffmann's discovery. In 1971, British pharmacologist John Vane discovered that the anti-inflammatory properties of ASA result from its ability to inhibit the body's production of certain chemical mediators (prostaglandins) that promote inflammation and, therefore, cause pain. Vane received the Nobel Prize for Medicine in 1982 for this medical research breakthrough.
Bayer...
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