Aspirin: The Remarkable Story of a Wonder Drug

An amazing book detailing the most interesting history of a little aspirin tablet. A history that shows how the little aspirin changed so much. It is most interesting general audience books that I have read in years. Highly recommend.

As the title suggests, this is indeed a remarkable tale that unfolds over a period of some 3000 years. British author Diarmuid Jeffreys has given us an extremely well written and spellbinding account of the emergence of that little white pill that so many of us seem to take for granted. The story of aspirin has its origins in ancient Egypt. The Ebers papyrus, an amazing 110 page document unearthed in 1858, is perhaps the longest and most compehensive medical papyrus ever recovered and studied by Egyptologists. Believe it or not, this document deals almost exclusively with internal medicine and discusses a wide range of ailments. Further, the document talks about over 100 herbal and vegetable base remedies. Of these, perhaps the most significant was salix or willow. You see it turns out that willow is the key ingredient in the most remarkable and enduring drug the world has ever known--aspirin. Sadly, this wealth of medical know how was lost for nearly 3000 years. But aided by the curiosity and determination of a number of individuals, the secrets of the willow would be unlocked and the human race would be so much the better for their efforts. This is what "Aspirin: The Remarkable Story of A Wonder Drug" is all about. If you have ever done any reading on the development of new drugs you appreciate that it is most often a dreadfully slow, painstaking and very expensive process. The story of the development of aspirin was no exception. But as Diarmuid Jeffries so aptly points out there were so many other factors involved in the emergence of the little white pill including World War I, the great pandemic of 1919 and the rise of Nazi Germany. Add to those the compelling story of AG Bayer Co. and way that aspirin was successfully marketed to the general public and the result is a book with so many unexpected twists and turns that I simply could not put it down. This is a must read for history buffs and anyone interested in the development of new drugs or even for those interested in the history of advertising and marketing. Most highly recommended!

Asprin can be used to treat both the deadliest of diseases and the most common of minor discomforts: it's one of the most amazing pills in medical history and here receives its own story which has its roots in ancient Egypt. Writer Diarmuid Jeffreys specializes in reporting and documentary programs for TV. In Aspirin: The Remarkable Story Of A Wonder Drug, Jeffreys' style lends well to general-interest audiences interested in learning about the changing history of asprin from early through modern times.

The Author details the history of aspirin and the willow tree from which the active ingredient, salicylic acid, was first derived. This story of aspirin goes all the way back to ancient Egypt and up to the present time 2004. In addition to it's remarkable history as a wonder drug aspirin holds promise in the prevention and treatment of many diseases including heart attacks, stroke, dementia and cancer. Also discussed are rival analgesics such as acetominophen(Tylenol) and ibuprofen(Advil). This reader also suggests you read a similar 5 star book from 1991 "Aspirin Wars, The: Money, Medicine, and 100 Years of Rampant Competition." This book goes into more detail giving an interesting picture of over-the-counter drug marketing during the entire 20th century. Except for the fact that this book only has the history of aspirin until 1991, I would give it a higher rating than the newer book.

We take aspirin for granted; we have had it as a handy analgesic since 1899. It has, however, a history far longer than that, and during its subsequent time as a commercial tablet, it has been at the heart of medical, advertising, scientific and historic controversies. In _Aspirin: The Remarkable Story of a Wonder Drug_ (Bloomsbury), Diarmuid Jeffreys has told the whole story of a drug that became a standard tablet only after many centuries of use, and then, when other pain relievers were crowding it out, became a nostrum for heart attack and stroke prevention, as well as other indications. It is a terrific story of many side branches, and Jeffreys has told it with a lively sense of humor (for there are many wrong-headed notions along the way, and many peculiar people) and also admiration for those who have pursued the development and use of aspirin in a scientific way. Physicians in ancient Egypt used extracts from willow trees as analgesics, and probably learned about them from the Sumerians before. Hippocrates and Galen knew of it, but we lost wisdom about such things in the Middle Ages. The modern story begins with the Reverend Edward Stone who lived in Chipping Norton, England. Around 1757, Stone came to correct conclusions about willow bark, but used doubtful reasoning, for instance that it was bitter like quinine and so would help fevers. There was a boom in chemical synthesis in the nineteenth century, and Friedrich Bayer & Co., a German firm, succeeded in making pure ASA in quantities, and christened it Aspirin. There were few proven drugs on the market at the time, drugs like quinine and digitalis, and other than the opiates, there were no proven analgesics. This meant that Aspirin quickly became one of the most widely used drugs in the world. In 1920, the trade name Aspirin was legally determined to have passed into common usage, and from then on, anyone, not just Bayer, could make ASA and call it aspirin. Aspirin makers fought in advertising, but by the sixties, they had other battles to fight; Tylenol was launched as a prescription drug in 1955, soon going over-the-counter. Motrin came out, too. It seemed to some in the 1960s that aspirin was going to continue to fade, but then it was reborn. Doctors noticed that patients on aspirin seemed to have fewer heart attacks, and researchers began the laborious process of confirming this in large tests. Aspirin has been found to have promise of helping to prevent different cancers, too, and maybe even Alzheimer's. This is not all a story of benevolent chemistry; after all, Aspirin had made the Bayer company, which was part of I. G. Farben, the giant chemical cartel that used slave labor during World War II and supplied lethal gas to extermination camps. There are certainly darker sides to the way big business, cutthroat competition, and backstabbing chemists brought us this wonder drug; intrigue, ambition, and greed are all here. Jeffrey's book tells all this darkness as