kidsneedscience: Aspirin: From Ancient Remedy to Commercial PatentOn March 6, 1899, German scientist
kidsneedscience: Aspirin: From Ancient Remedy to Commercial PatentOn March 6, 1899, German scientist and chemist Felix Hoffmann was granted a patent for and released the first commercially available Aspirin by the Bayer company. The two key ingredients of aspirin (acetic acid and salicylic acid) were both known to antiquity for their medicinal properties. The main source of acetic acid was the meadowsweet plant ( Filipendula ulmaria ), known by its common Latin name spirea. This was the first commercially available formulation that did not have many of the side effects (and dosage questions) of earlier formulations. The explosion of medicinal remedies in Europe in general and Germany in particular led Germany to pass a law requiring patents for medicine to have strict nomenclature for the sake of the doctors prescribing. Hoffman and Bayer thus named their new product aspirin, adding the a- prefix to the Latin spirea to indicate the source of acetic acid. Hoffman is also credited with the first commercial and stable formulations of heroin (diacetylmorphine), used as a morphine substitute as cough supressant and pain killer. Etymologically, the trade name applied for heroin came from the Ancient Greek heroe meaning a demi-god or heroic man, as the drug induced feelings of invincibility. Image of Meadowsweet () courtesy chrsjc, used with permission under a Creative Commons 3.0 license. Check out their awesome flickr feed-like me a big fan of track cycling, and a very talented photographer.Vintage Bayer Aspirin bottle courtesy Wolfgang Stief, used with permission under a Creative Commons 3.0 license. -- source link