Analgesic: (of a drug) acting to relieve pain.

Antipyretic: (chiefly of a drug) used to

prevent or reduce fever.

Anti-inflammatory: (chiefly of a drug) used to

reduce inflammation.

http://www.aspirin.com/scripts/pages/en/pain/

html_how_does_aspirin_work.php

Common side effects include: irritation of the stomach or bowel

indigestion nausea (feeling sick) However, less than 10% of people taking aspirin experience these side effects.

Less common side effects of aspirin include: worsening of asthma caused by narrowing of airways

vomiting inflammation (swelling) of the stomach bleeding in the stomach bruising

Allergic reaction

In some cases aspirin can cause an allergic reaction, although this is more common in people who have asthma.

To avoid the side effects of aspirin stick to basic foods and take the aspirin after a meal.

c400 BC In Greece Hippocrates gives women willow leaf tea to relieve the pain of childbirth.

1763 Reverend Edward Stone of Chipping Norton near Oxford gives dried willow bark to 50 parishioners suffering rheumatic fever.

1823 In Italy the active ingredient is extracted from willow and named salicin. 1853 Salicylic acid made from salicin by French scientists but it is found to

irritate the gut.

1893 German scientists find that adding an acetyl group to salicylic acid reduces its irritant properties.

1899 Clinical trials are successfully completed. aspirin launched. 1914 International trade in pharmaceuticals interrupted by the outbreak of

World War I. Australian pharmacist G. R. Nicholas wins a competition to find a new way of producing aspirin.

1930s Bayer's patent on acetyl salicylic acid runs out. It becomes a generic drug.

1974 First evidence of aspirin's effects in preventing heart attacks: Professor Elwood.

1982 English scientist Professor Sir John Vane and two Swedish colleagues, SuneBergström and Bengt Samuelsson win Nobel prize for discovering the role of aspirin in inhibiting prostaglandin production.

1995 American researchers find evidence that aspirin protects against bowel cancer.

1997 aspirin is now used for lots

To ensure that aspirin works and is safe use, it goes through three main stages of testing.

1.) The drugs are tested using computer models and human cells grown in the laboratory. Many substances fail this test because they damage cells or do not seem to work.2.) Drugs that pass the first stage are tested on animals. In the UK, new medicines have to undergo these tests. But it is illegal to test cosmetics and tobacco products on animals. A typical test involves giving a known amount of the substance to the animals, then monitoring them carefully for any side-effects.

3.) Drugs that have passed animal tests are used in clinical trials. They are tested on healthy volunteers to check they are safe. The substances are then tested on people with the illness to ensure they are safe and that they work.

Aspirin, also known as ‘acetylsalicylic

acid’, has a chemical formula of

C9H8O4.