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Aspirin is one of the world's safest
and least expensive pain relievers with over 100 years
of proven and effective treatment for a variety of ailments.
It is the active ingredient in more than 50 over-the-counter
medications.
Developed by German chemist Felix
Hoffmann in 1897 as a treatment for his father's arthritis,
the basic ingredients of aspirin had long been known.
Indeed, as long ago as the fifth century B.C., Hippocrates,
the father of modern medicine, is said to have used
ground willow bark to ease aches and pains. Willow bark
contains salicin, the basis of a class of drugs called
salicylates.
By the late 1800s, salicylates had
become the standard drug for the treatment of arthritis.
However, the treatment was very harsh and irritating
to the stomach. Hoffman, setting out to create a less-irritating
medicine for his father, synthesized acetylsalicylic
acid (ASA) and aspirin was born.
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