This document describes the history of aspirin. Where did the aspirin come from?
The chemical name formula and structure is present in this assignment.
It is the level of distinction
Aspirin
Aspirin is used as a pain killer, treating flu and cold as well as helping with lowering
body temperature. It is also used to prevent stroke and heart attacks as it prevents
blood clots by making the blood thin as it makes the platelets less sticky. Aspirin
can cause stomach and brain bleeding (internal bleeding) nausea, coughing up
blood.
Aspirin came from willow bark. People would peel off willow bark, brew it and drink
it the pain would go away. Around 400 BC, Hippocrates (father of modern medicine)
told the people to chew on willow bark if they were sick. He also said that if
pregnant women would drink tea from willow bark would help them to relieve the
pain. Around 300 BC, Theophrastus (father of Botany) cooked willow bark and sold it
as it acted as a pain reliever. Back in the time Korean would use willow bark
decoction to treat fever by having a bath and same decoction was used to help with
a toothache. Back then a person named Yee soon-sin was taking an exam in military
when he fell from the horse and injured his ankle. He splinted his leg with willow
bark. In 1763, Edward stone (a Viker) had symptoms similar to malaria. He tasted
willow bark and noticed that it tasted similar to quinine which was used for the
treatment of malaria. He thought that some active ingredients might be present in
willow bark. He dried bark for more than three months and performed clinical trials
on himself. The symptoms of fever were completely relieved by the willow bark. On
April 25th, 1763, he sent a letter to British society announcing his discovery. After
announcing his discovery, over the five years he performed clinical trials on the
people complaining about fever. Symptoms were relieved for most of the people. In
1828, the active ingredients in willow bark were finally discovered. In 1828, John
Buchner (German pharmacologist) successfully extracted active ingredients from
willow bark which created small yellow crystals named salicin. In 1829, Pierre
Joseph Larue (French pharmacist) improved the extraction process. In 1838, Raffael
Piria (Italian chemist) extracted a stronger compound in salicylic naming it salicylic
acid. Salicylic acid had caused side effects gastrointestinal disorder, and vomiting.
Scientists researched to eliminate the side effects of salicylic acid. In 1853, Charles
Frederick Gerhart (French chemist) discovered that combinations of two compounds
(salicylic acid, and acetyl group) would reduce the side effects. This gave birth to
acetylsalicylic (main ingredient) of aspirin. In 1890, Felix Hoffman who worked at
German pharmaceutical, his father was suffering from rheumatoid arthritis. He used
sodium salicylate for pain relief but was struggling with side effects like stomach
disorders. Due to his father Hoffman researched found a more stable way to
synthesize acetylsalicylic acid as it was unstable. On 10 th August 1897, he
successfully synthesized acetylsalicylic acid in a stable and more pure form. In
1989, after Bayer company tested the effectiveness of pain relief through clinical
trials, they started to produce this pharmaceutical. Hoffman gave the developed
aspirin to his father, and it had relieved the symptoms of pain. In starting aspirin
was used to be sold in powder formed so it was weighed before being sold. Later
many pharmaceutical companies started to develop products from aspirin. In 1915
the Bayer company developed aspirin as a tablet. In 1918, more than 50 million
people were killed by the Spanish flu. At that time, the sales of aspirin doubled.
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