Craven recommended aspirin for patients years of age who were at risk of a heart attack due to weight or sedentary lifestyle. He found that in those who took aspirin no myocardial infarctions MIs occurred. Craven also observed that none of his patients taking aspirin experienced a stroke 6.
Many different scientists contributed to our understanding of how aspirin effects platelet function. Dr Harvey Weiss in the late s reported that aspirin displayed a rapid and irreversible inhibition of platelet aggregation 7.
In he was awarded the Nobel Prize for Medicine in recognition of this work and aspirin started to become established as a drug for treating and preventing cardiovascular. In Carlo Patrono with his research group showed that low dose aspirin permanently inhibits thromboxane 9.
He remained an active member up until his death, age 92 in December Interestingly this work also inspired Archie Cochrane to set up the Cochrane collaboration with the aim of organising medical research findings and facilitating evidence-based choices for clinicians, patients and policy makers 2.
As a result, cardiologists start using aspirin as immediate standard practice for suspected MI. ISIS-2 also showed the importance of large randomised trials with thousands of patients in order to demonstrate these lifesaving benefits. Also, in Physicians Health Study provided evidence that long term low dose aspirin resulted in a reduction in MI and a role for aspirin in the primary prevention ischemic heart disease In The Antiplatelets Trialist Collaboration confirmed that aspirin could prevent further cardiovascular events and death in people with established vascular disease Aspirin also has an important role in the immediate treatment of minor stroke in order to prevent recurrent stroke 15, Reviewing both its preventative effect for the two big killers cardiovascular disease and cancer the US Preventative Task Force 17 in recommend aspirin for primary disease prevention in certain groups.
A publication looking at the secondary prevention of cardiovascular disease has shown that aspirin is still one of the best options Other research has further supported this finding and a time dependent reduced incidence in colorectal cancer has been observed In , Sir John Burns 23 showed the role of aspirin in helping to prevent cancer in carriers of hereditary colorectal cancer.
Further studies are ongoing to fully understand aspirins role in cancer prevention including the role of aspirin in reducing the risk of metastatic spread 24,25 in established cancer. It is becoming apparent that an individualised approach is important as well as careful consideration of age and all risk factors.
Individualised dosing regimens will be needed to fully exploit the potentially lifesaving benefits of this fascinating drug. A one size fits all approach is not appropriate and factors such as increased platelet turnover in certain disease conditions e.
Ge Junbo, male, was born in Wulian, Shandong province on Nov. He is the member of Chinese Academy of Sciences, professor and doctoral supervisor. He is also the designate chairman of the Cardiovascular Disease Branch of Chinese Medical Association, council member of the Cardiovascular Angiography and Interventions Association, international consultant of the American Heart Association.
In Dec. Ge has been engaged in clinical and scientific research work of cardiovascular disease since , and his research area covers the pathogenesis of coronary heart disease, early diagnosis and treatment plan optimization. Click here to find the press release. Discipline: Cardiology and Epidemiology. Neurology and Vascular Neurology. We would like to hear from you and have a chat, and maybe feature you on our podcast.
Please fill in the form below and we will contact you with further information. The Aspirin Story. The story of Aspirin — a versatile medicine with a long history. Aspirin in cardiovascular disease prevention In the s Laurence Craven, a general practitioner from California, published his work using aspirin to prevent vascular events. One hundred years of aspirin. The Lancet Elwood P.
You might think that whoever invented aspirin is a genius, but the truth is humans have been using its natural equivalent for thousands of years. That's based on data from more than 25, patients and builds on earlier findings that aspirin may lower the risk of colorectal cancer. The research has limitations and is not definitive proof, but it does add another benefit to an ancient remedy that has been called a miracle drug.
The word "aspirin" wasn't a coincidence. It comes from Spiraea, a biological genus of shrubs that includes natural sources of the drug's key ingredient: salicylic acid. This acid, resembling what's in modern-day aspirin, can be found in jasmine, beans, peas, clover and certain grasses and trees.
Hippocrates, the Greek physician who lived from about to B. It wasn't until thousands of years later that people began to isolate the key ingredients of aspirin. In the s, researchers across Europe explored salicylic acid. Hermann Kolbe discovered synthetic salicylic acid in , but when administered often in large doses, patients experienced nausea and vomiting, and some even went into a coma.
A buffer was needed to ease the effects of this acid on the stomach. The aspirin we know came into being in the late s in the form of acetylsalicylic acid when chemist Felix Hoffmann at Bayer in Germany used it to alleviate his father's rheumatism, a timeline from Bayer says.
Beginning in , Bayer distributed a powder with this ingredient to physicians to give to patients. The drug became a hit and, in , it was sold as over-the-counter tablets. One patient who should not have been taking aspirin was young Alexei Nicholaevich Romanov of Russia, who had hemophilia. Aspirin would make the bleeding in this disorder worse, but the imperial doctors likely gave the boy this new wonder drug without knowing, Jeffreys said.
Alexei, son of the last czar, probably improved because the mystic Grigori Rasputin told the boy's mother to stop modern treatments and instead rely on spiritual healing. Rasputin's influence on the Romanov family may have contributed to the uprising against them, making aspirin a possible player in their murder and in the end of czarist Russia. Aspirin's uses for heart patients came to light in when California physician Dr.
Philippa Martyr does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment. Aspirin is one of the most widely used drugs in the world. Its main ingredient comes from a natural product, salicin , found in plants such as willow and myrtle. Its origins have been closely linked with Hippocrates , the famous ancient Greek doctor and so-called father of medicine.
Practically every history of aspirin tells you Hippocrates prescribed willow to women in labour. Some say he prescribed willow leaf tea. Others say he told them to chew willow bark. Willow bark and leaves were used in some ancient medicines.
However, these were often used externally, rather than swallowed. A clinically effective dose of 60—mg of salicin would be very hard to obtain from simply chewing white willow bark or drinking willow tea. White willow also contains toxic, bitter-tasting tannins. These would make it hard to consume enough bark or tea to reach that dose, and would cause stomach pain long before you got there. Natural salicin is more abundant in other ancient plants, such as the myrtle tree.
But even then you would still probably give yourself a terrible stomach ache after ingesting enough of the plant to relieve pain. Dioscorides was an ancient Roman who wrote a guidebook of medicines , still in print today. He described willow as a remedy for stomach ache, the respiratory disease tuberculosis, and as a contraceptive. He said if you burned willow bark, soaked it in vinegar, then rubbed it on corns and calluses, it would remove them.
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