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Aspirin’s scientific name is acetylsalicylic acid that is non-narcotic analgesic that relieves the headache, muscle ache, and joint aches. The medicine works by making the blood thinner which causes the nerve ending to go to sleep and that takes your pain away.
The father of modern or technique medicine was named Hippocrates who lived sometime between 460 B.C. 377 B.C. Hippocrates discovered records such as using the powder made from the bark and leaves of a willow tree to help heal headaches, pains and fever.
Before there was Aspirin many people suffered. Men would do about 14-16 hours of back breaking. Which means that they have backaches for a long time. Women would have to do at least 16-18 hours of back breaking and give birth to 6 children. When the women became too old to give birth, they could count on Arthritis for the rest of their lives.
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Medicine can sometimes save our lives but if not used correctly it could be dangerous. Medicines labels are meant to read and people sometimes just don't care. The labels tell you when to use the medicine, who should use it and how to take it correctly. If you take too much it may become poisonous. Below are some pictures of the label on the Aspirin bottle. At the end are some worksheets so you can challenge yourself. Teachers can also use the worksheets to give to the students.
The Front Of the Aspirin Label
The Back Of the Aspirin Label
Worksheet #1
Worksheet #2
Worksheet #3
Worksheet #4
Some Of the Things Aspirin has become
Over the years Aspirin has developed into medicine such as Tylenol and Advil. Tylenol is acetamiphen. There are many different kinds of Tylenol such as Children's Tylenol for the flu and cold and many others. There are many types of Adult Tylenols too such as Tylenol for woman and Tylenol for arthritis. One difference between Tylenol and Aspirin is that Aspirin has many side effects, while Tylenol rarely has any side effects.
Advil's scientific name is Ibuprofen. Advil also has Children's Advil for flu and cold and Adult Advil also that relieves headaches and many other things. One difference between Advil and Aspirin is that Aspirin is faster, but it may be that Advil takes a longer time because it is slightly better but I don't know for sure.
Some Of The Medicine Discoveries
- Around 1500 BC Egytians recorded a collection of recipes for medicines which included a recipe using an infusion of dried myrtle leaves(which contain salicylic acid or aspirin) to relieve back pain
- 200 BC Hippocrates prescribes leaves and bark from a willow tree(also contains salicylic acid) to relieve fever and pain including labor pains.
- 100 AD Greek surgeon called Dioscorides mentions the use of willow leaves to relieve pain in his writing.
- 200 Pliny the Elder a Roman statesman also describes of willow leaves in his writings.
- Middle Ages Europeans stop using willow bark medicines because it was identified to make wicker. Use of willow for medicinal purposes was forbid in some places.
- July 2 1763 Edward Stone, an English clergyman, reports to the Royal Society of London (world-reowned scientific group) of his successful experiments involving the use of willow bark to reduce fever in fifty of his patients. Meanwhile, on the European mainland, quinine is used to treat pain.
- 1828 Johann Buchner of Munich Germany isolates pure salicin from willow bark. Salicin is the compound in willow bark that relieves pain. The name salicin came from salix which is the Latin word for willow tree.
- 1835 Karl Lowig makes salicylic acid from meadowsweet flowers.
- 1838 Raffaele Piria converts salicin into salicylic acid. This is the first time salicylic acid was obtained from willow bark in the laboratary.
- 1853 Charles Frederic Gerhardt first synthesizes acetylsalicylic acid but he fails to understand its molecular structure and its potential importance to humanity. His ASA is not pure and therefore of limited use
- 1859 H.von Glim's theory is similar to Charles. He describes the preparation of ASA but he too, fails to grasp its molecular structure. His ASA is also not pure. Meanwhile, Herman Kolbe discovers how to synthesize salicylic acid from coal tar. The method he used is still called "Kolbe synthesis".
- 1869 Karl-Johann Kraut also trys the experiments the other scientists did and gives the accurate information about the molecular structure of ASA the ester of salicylic acid. His sample was also not pure.
- 1874 Salicylic acid is first made industrially using Kolbe's method in Dresden, Germany. It is sold as a painkiller but severly irritates the stomach.
- 1897 On August 10, 1897 Felix Hoffman prepares the first pure sample of acetylsalicylic acid. His laboratory journal notes the test he performed to assess the purity of his product. This is the beginning of aspirin as we know today although the name as of yet has not been used.
- 1899 The first publication of clinical trail results appeared and showed the promising healing effects of ASA as Aspirin for the first time, and the company first distributes aspirin as a powder to physicians to give to their parents.
- 1900 Bayer introduces the first water-soluble tablet form of aspirin. This process cut production costs in half.
- 1915 Aspirin first becomes available without a prescription.
- 1948 Dr.Lawrence Craven discover that men to whom he prescibed aspirin suffered no heart attacks. He recommends an aspirin a day to both patients and partners alike to decrease risk of heart attack.
- 1971 John Vane a british pharmacologist dicovers that aspirin works by inhibiting the production of prostaglandins.
- 1980 FDA approves the use of aspirin to reduce the risk of stroke after signs of TIA that forewarns of possible impending stroke.
- 1982 John Vane receives the Nobel Prize for Medicine for his research on prostglandins.
- 1985 FDA approves aspirin to prevent heart attack in patients with previous attacks or unstable angia pectoris.
- 1998 The FDA rules that aspirin can be labeled as being helpful in preventing heart attacks and strokes in men and women when taken in daily doses as low as 81 mg, the size of a child's aspirin. The FDA also approves aspirin for use by patients during a suspected heart attack.
Bibliography
Pictures and information
http://www.chemheritage.org/EducationalServices/pharm/asp/asp00.htm
http://inventors.about.com/library/inventors/blaspirin.htm
http://www.niehs.nih.gov/kids/mabel.htm
RJ Bailey - Mission Medicine Team Page