Aspirin's Ancient Connection

Just as we owe most of our medical knowledge to the physicians of ancient times, there are some medicines in use today that are directly taken from ancient medicine. One such ancient medicine that is still used today, albeit in a different form, is aspirin.

Aspirin is arguably the most commonly used drug in the world today. It has appeared in the Guinness Book of Records as the most frequently sold pain reliever in the world and is also “one of the most endurably successful commercial products of all time." Its use ranges from simple pain relief to heart attack and stroke prevention.

The active ingredient of Aspirin is the medicinal compound salicin, which is refined from willow bark, and that's the ancient connection. Willow bark was used extensively by the ancient Sumerians and Egyptians for pain relief, and later advocated by Hippocrates in Greece and Pliny the Elder in Ancient Rome. Willow bark continued to be used as a pain reliever in its natural form until the mid-1800s when it was refined into salicin, and then in the early 20th century turned into acetylsalicylic acid by Bayer and marketed as “the wonder drug” aspirin.

Another interesting fact about Aspirin is that it was used extensively during the Spanish Flu, the great pandemic of 1918. There was some recent news about aspirin being used to combat blood clot complications from covid-19 too.

Sources:

https://www.mdlinx.com/article/ancient-medicines-and-procedures-still-used-today/lfc-4453

https://www.sciencehistory.org/distillations/aspirin-turn-of-the-century-miracle-drug

https://www.healthline.com/health/willow-bark-natures-aspirin#benefits

https://www.webmd.com/lung/news/20201105/researchers-say-aspirin-may-help-covid-patients

Comments

Origin of the Word "Cancer"

In my previous post, I explored the history of cancer. Since we know it existed in ancient times, it follows that so did its name. In fact, the name "cancer" was coined by none other than the great Hippocrates (well, not the exact name but the root of the name). Hippocrates in fact, used two terms, carcinoma and carcinos, to describe ulcerous and non-ulcerous tumors respectively. He named the tumors after Carcinus (or Karkinos), a giant crab in Greek mythology that was sent by the Goddess Hera to help Hydra fight against Hercules. As to why Hippocrates chose to name the tumor after a crab is not quite clear but there are several theories: - The hardness of a malignant tumor reminded him of the hard shell of a crab. - The pain induced by a malignant tumor is similar to a sharp pinch of a crab's claw. - The tenacity of cancer is similar to the determination with which a crab bites and grabs on to a person....

Hippocrates: Father of Medicine

Another important person in Greek medicine is Hippocrates. Hippocrates is considered the father of modern medicine who continues to influence medicine more than 2000 years later. Although he is as revered as Asclepius, they have very different origins. While Asclepius is a mythological character, considered to be descended from God, Hippocrates is very much a historical figure, whose origin and life is recorded in history. Hippocrates lived from 460 to 375 BCE during the Classical Greece period and practiced medicine in Greece. His contribution to western medicine is rivaled by none other, and his collection of works covers almost every aspect of disease and medicine including infection, hygiene, epidemiology and the human immune system. Bust of Hippocrates Also, unlike Asclepius, Hippocrates practiced medicine as a science, not as divine magic. He was one of the first to separate religion from medicine, and sought to match treatment with symptoms. His observations in the ...

Rx Symbol

Have you ever wondered why medicines are denoted with an ℞ or Rx symbol? There are actually many theories about its origin but the most common one is that the symbol for prescriptions originated from the "Eye of Horus", which was an ancient Egyptian symbol associated with healing powers. According to Egyptian mythology, Horus lost his eye in battle but his mom used her powers to restore his eye, hence it became a symbol of healing. Eye of Horus In the 2 nd century, Greek physician Galen adapted this symbol to impress his patients. Galen’s influence on medicine was so strong that even the symbol was borrowed through the centuries and it eventually evolved into the modern symbol Rx (the eye of Horus kinda looks like an Rx). Other theories place its origin in Latin and Roman times. One theory is that Rx was used as an abbreviation of the Latin word recipere , meaning “to prepare,” which physicians wrote on medical prescriptions. Yet another theory points to the similarity of...

History of Medicine

Search This Blog