Asthma
In America, more than 80 billion aspirin tablets are consumed each year. Aspirin is a trade name for acetyl salicyclic acid and is effective as an analgesic, antipyretic, and anti-inflammatory drug.
History
Aspirin's predecessors, derivatives of salicylic acids, have been used to treat a variety of conditions for more than 2,500 years.
The Greek physician, Hippocrates (400BC), recommended the use of willow bark (a natural source of salicylates) to ease pain during childbirth. This use of salicylates was also advocated by Galen, a second century Roman physician, and mentioned in medical texts of the Middle Ages and Renaissance.
In 1757, Reverend Edward Stone conducted the first scientific study of natural sources of salicylates and wrote about the success of willow bark in the cure of fevers and aches.
Leroux showed in 1829, that salicin is the active agent in willow and was first extracted by Fontana and Brugnatelli. Salicin was concerted into Salicylic acid by the Italian chemist Piria in 1839. It was synthesised by a process discovered by Kolbe and Lautemann in 1860 which led to the introduction of Salicylic acid and sodium salicylate (forerunners of aspirin) for treatment of fever and arthiritis. However, these compounds were toxic to the stomach and caused diarrhoea and vomiting.
German chemist Felix Hoffmann was set the task by Arthur Eichengrun of Friedrich Bayer & Co in 1893, to find a less toxic alternative. Hoffmann returned with a related compound. Putting salicin through a series of chemical reactions, acetylsalicylic acid was created.
In America, more than 80 billion aspirin tablets are consumed each year. Aspirin is a trade name for acetyl salicyclic acid and is effective as an analgesic, antipyretic, and anti-inflammatory drug.
History
Aspirin's predecessors, derivatives of salicylic acids, have been used to treat a variety of conditions for more than 2,500 years.
The Greek physician, Hippocrates (400BC), recommended the use of willow bark (a natural source of salicylates) to ease pain during childbirth. This use of salicylates was also advocated by Galen, a second century Roman physician, and mentioned in medical texts of the Middle Ages and Renaissance.
In 1757, Reverend Edward Stone conducted the first scientific study of natural sources of salicylates and wrote about the success of willow bark in the cure of fevers and aches.
Leroux showed in 1829, that salicin is the active agent in willow and was first extracted by Fontana and Brugnatelli. Salicin was concerted into Salicylic acid by the Italian chemist Piria in 1839. It was synthesised by a process discovered by Kolbe and Lautemann in 1860 which led to the introduction of Salicylic acid and sodium salicylate (forerunners of aspirin) for treatment of fever and arthiritis. However, these compounds were toxic to the stomach and caused diarrhoea and vomiting.
German chemist Felix Hoffmann was set the task by Arthur Eichengrun of Friedrich Bayer & Co in 1893, to find a less toxic alternative. Hoffmann returned with a related compound. Putting salicin through a series of chemical reactions, acetylsalicylic acid was created.
