Who invented ASPIRIN and what is its history?

While no one person invented aspirin, the origin of aspirin as we know it

came about through research.
Aspirin discovery was actually the result of the work of several aspirin
inventors.

The effects of aspirin-like substances have been known since the ancient
Greeks recorded the use of the willow bark as a fever fighter.

One of the first and most influential physicians, Hippocrates, wrote

about a bitter powder extracted from willow bark that could ease aches
and pains and reduce fevers as long ago as the fifth century B.C.

In the 1700s, the scientist Reverend Edmund Stone wrote about the
success of the bark and the willow in the cure of the "agues," or fevers
with aches.

With a bit of chemical detective work, scientists

found out that the part of willow bark that was
(1) bitter and (2) good for fever and pain is a
chemical known as salicin.
White Willow Tree

This chemical can be converted (changed) by the body after it is eaten to another
chemical, salicylic acid.

salicylic acid molecule

It was a pharmacist known as Leroux who showed in 1829 that salicin is this active
willow ingredient.

For many years the salicylic acid (made from salicin for the first time by Italian
chemist Piria), and close relatives were used at high doses to treat pain and
swelling in diseases like arthritis and to treat fever in illnesses like influenza (flu).

The problem with these chemicals was that they upset the user's stomach fairly
badly.

In fact, some people had bleeding in their digestive tracts from the high
doses of these chemicals needed to control pain and swelling.

One of these people was a German man named Hoffmann.

His arthritis was pretty bad, but he just couldn't "stomach"
his salicylic acid.
Enter this man's son, German chemist Felix Hoffmann,
who worked for a chemical company known as
Friedrich Bayer & Co.

Felix Hoffmann

Felix wanted to find a chemical that wouldn't be so hard on his dad's stomach
lining; reasoning that salicylic acid may be irritating because it is an acid, he put
the compound through a couple of chemical reactions that covered up one of the
acidic parts with an acetyl group, converting it to acetylsalicylic acid (ASA)

acetylsalicylic acid molecule

Felix Hoffmann found that ASA not only could reduce fever and relieve pain and
swelling, but it was better for the stomach and worked even better than salicylic
acid. Unfortunately, Hoffmann had to wait for fame.
He finished his initial studies in 1897, and his employers didn't pay much
attention to it because it was new and they were cautious -- they didn't think it
had been tested enough.
By 1899, though, one of Bayer's top chemists, a scientist
named Heinrich Dreser, had finished demonstrating the
usefulness of the potent new medicine and even gave it
a new name:

The Bayer company could then support the tested medicine.

They spread the word and marketed the new pill widely.

Have you ever had a headache?

Chances are you have; almost all of us do once in a while.

And chances are you took some kind of medicine to ease your headache.

That medicine was most likely a relative of aspirin.

Aspirin is an ideal drug because it eliminates pain through

the suppression of chemical processes within the body.

Aspirin inhibits prostaglandin production by inhibiting the COX-2 enzyme.

Aspirin molecules attach themselves to COX-2 enzymes.
This binding action blocks the enzyme from creating chemical reactions.
When no chemical reactions are produced, messages cannot be transmitted
along the neuropath ways that ask for the prostaglandin production.
With the action of prostaglandin in check, your pain is either completely
relieved or greatly reduced.

Aspirin is similarly efficient as paracetamol

on trivial acute pain such as:
Headache

Dental Pain

Cold

You may also have taken aspirin or its

relatives for other problems, such as
inflammation (swelling of joints or other parts of
the body) or fever.

Knee join pain

Hand join swelling

Low back pain

Fever

But did you know that about 80 billion aspirin tablets are
taken per year for these problems, as well as many
others?
In small doses (30 to 300 mg/day) aspirin serves in the prevention of
thromboembolic angiopathies.
It is also used for chronic states of pain, e.g. for cancer
patients and (in high doses) for rheumatic fever.
Its use is well documented as a secondary prophylaxis
for coronary heart disease (after a myocardial infarction
or a bypass operation), after transient ischemic attacks
and cerebrovascular accidents and for peripheral
occlusive arterial disease.
Coronary Heart Disease

The following subjects also benefit from small doses of aspirin:

Persons over 50 years of age with cardiovascular risk factors;

Persons with atrial fibrillation who have a contraindication for anticoagulants.
In pre-eclampsia prophylaxis the effect of aspirin is marginal.
Children with Kawasaki's disease initially receive high and later low aspirin doses.

Aspirin is recommended to prevent the risk of heart attack

Just like all medicines, aspirin may cause side effects, but many
people have no, or minor, side effects.
The most COMMON side effects when using Aspirin are:

Nausea
Upset stomach
Heartburn
Vomit

Aspirin can also changes the way your kidneys make urine, can cause some people
to have trouble breathing (rarely), and can be dangerous at very high doses.
Aspirin also isn't used as much for fevers in children since research has suggested
that aspirin given to kids with flu, chicken pox, or other viral sicknesses may
cause a potentially deadly problem called Reye syndrome.

Is an aspirin a day the right thing for you?

It's not as easy a decision as it sounds.

Know the benefits and risks before considering daily aspirin therapy.
Although taking an occasional aspirin or two is safe for most adults to use for
headaches, body aches or fever, daily use of aspirin can have serious side
effects, including internal bleeding.
You should consider daily aspirin therapy only if you've had a heart attack or
stroke, or you have a high risk of either.

And then, only take aspirin with your doctor's approval.

References:
http://www.aspirin.com
http://www.wonderdrug.com/wonders_aspirin.html
http://health.howstuffworks.com/medicine/medication/aspirin.htm
http://www.infomed.org/100drugs/aspind.html
http://www.drugs.com/sfx/aspirin-side-effects.html
http://www.ehow.com/how-does_4564307_aspirin-relieveheadaches.html
http://www.biodigital.com/
Soundtrack:
Voyage by Yanni Album Truth of Touch
Created by:

Ishteyaq Al-Subhi
Reem Al-Mehdawi
Ghayda Semsem

Date:

March 29, 2011