Aspirin

What it is

Aspirin is Bayer's brand name for acetylsalicylic acid, a medicine used against pain, fever and inflammation and, at low doses, to prevent blood clots. On 10 August 1897 the chemist Felix Hoffmann produced acetylsalicylic acid in a pure, stable form in the laboratory of Farbenfabriken vorm. Friedr. Bayer & Co. in Elberfeld. Bayer registered the Aspirin trademark with the Imperial Patent Office in Berlin on 6 March 1899.

How it works

Acetylsalicylic acid blocks enzymes called cyclooxygenases, which produce prostaglandins, messenger substances involved in pain, fever and inflammation. It also inhibits the formation of thromboxane in blood platelets, which reduces their tendency to clump together. This is why low doses are used to prevent heart attacks and strokes in some patients. Salicylic acid, from willow bark, had long been used as a remedy, but it irritated the stomach; acetylation made it better tolerated.

Why it stands out

Aspirin became one of the most widely used drugs in the world. Its history is not without controversy. The chemist Arthur Eichengrün later claimed that he had directed the work and that Hoffmann had only carried out his instructions, and that his Jewish origins were the reason his role had been erased under the Nazi regime. Some later historians have supported his claim, while Bayer has traditionally credited Hoffmann.

Where you meet it

Aspirin is sold in pharmacies and, in many countries, in supermarkets, in tablets, effervescent tablets and granules. Low-dose versions are prescribed for cardiovascular prevention, and the drug appears in medicine cabinets around the world.