Tuesday, March 6, 2012

I Really Love This Stuff...!

For something that was originally a natural product, this stuff has certainly come a long way!

To this day, aspirin is one of the few medicines that I have total faith in! I have plenty of personal experience with aspirin and know that, for me, it works 100% of the time. I can't imagine NOT having a bottle or two in my medical supplies.

I'm not supposed to take it because of the blood thinners that I take, but I sneak one or two from time to time if I have some aches or pains. Like I said, it really works for me!

Mar 6, 1899:
Bayer patents aspirin

On this day in 1899, the Imperial Patent Office in Berlin registers Aspirin, the brand name for acetylsalicylic acid, on behalf of the German pharmaceutical company Friedrich Bayer & Co.

Now the most common drug in household medicine cabinets, acetylsalicylic acid was originally made from a chemical found in the bark of willow trees. In its primitive form, the active ingredient, salicin, was used for centuries in folk medicine, beginning in ancient Greece when Hippocrates used it to relieve pain and fever. Known to doctors since the mid-19thcentury, it was used sparingly due to its unpleasant taste and tendency to damage the stomach.

In 1897, Bayer employee Felix Hoffman found a way to create a stable form of the drug that was easier and more pleasant to take. (Some evidence shows that Hoffman's work was really done by a Jewish chemist, Arthur Eichengrun, whose contributions were covered up during the Nazi era.) After obtaining the patent rights, Bayer began distributing aspirin in powder form to physicians to give to their patients one gram at a time. The brand name came from "a" for acetyl, "spir" from the spirea plant (a source of salicin) and the suffix "in," commonly used for medications. It quickly became the number-one drug worldwide.

Aspirin was made available in tablet form and without a prescription in 1915. Two years later, when Bayer's patent expired during the First World War, the company lost the trademark rights to aspirin in various countries. After the United States entered the war against Germany in April 1917, the Alien Property Custodian, a government agency that administers foreign property, seized Bayer's U.S. assets. Two years later, the Bayer company name and trademarks for the United States and Canada were auctioned off and purchased by Sterling Products Company, later Sterling Winthrop, for $5.3 million.

Bayer became part of IG Farben, the conglomerate of German chemical industries that formed the financial heart of the Nazi regime. After World War II, the Allies split apart IG Farben, and Bayer again emerged as an individual company. Its purchase of Miles Laboratories in 1978 gave it a product line including Alka-Seltzer and Flintstones and One-A-Day Vitamins. In 1994, Bayer bought Sterling Winthrop's over-the-counter business, gaining back rights to the Bayer name and logo and allowing the company once again to profit from American sales of its most famous product

One thing I've discovered about aspirin, the plain ol' house brand works for me the best. I don't need the fancy name brand at all! I can remember when we were kids and had a fever, Mom would sometimes give us an aspirin dropped into a coke! What a treat!

I've heard all the warnings about aspirin causing stomach problems, but I've been taking it nearly all my life and never had any problems! I'm sticking to it regardless!

Coffee on the patio this morning. The sun really looks nice and warm today!

16 comments:

Sella said...

1. why are you on thinners?
2.why would you sneak one in, knowing you shouldnt take it..

That being said, I recall Bayer childs orange flavored and loving them so mch i od'ed.... asprin are amazing, i stay away from them now..but as a kid I could not get enough..they were YUMMY Orange .. (PS I hate oranges)

HermitJim said...

Hey Sella...
Several years ago, I had a little episode with my heart. They didn't call it an attack, but they put me on blood thinners at that time.

I have an irregular heart beat. No big deal, really. The only reason I even take an aspirin now and again is if I have a real ache or pain I can't get rid of. I never get headaches or anything like that.

They told me I could take a children's aspirin if I wanted, but for sore muscles that doesn't do it. Neither does tylenol.

Hey, thanks for coming by today!

XXXXX said...

Interesting history. I always find it fascinating to learn of the herbal roots of modern medicine. You know, this got me wondering about why docs recommend tylenol over aspirin. Do you know why that is? I wonder what's in the tylenol that works on the pain? I'll have to google to see what I can find. Thanks for the interesting post. It's cold here. I would love to have coffee on the patio.

Sixbears said...

Since I rarely take any sort of drug, asprin is powerful medicine for me. It's said that if it had been developed today, it would prescription only. Good thing we have it to take care of ourselves.

Anonymous said...

I rarely use aspirin as I rarely get any headaches (maybe one or two in past 5 years). Ibuprofen and I are old friends due to some ranching chores that come up - its heck getting old!

The Oreo cookie is a hundred years old today - Woohoo! Best Cookie Evvahhh! With a ice cold glass of Promised Land milk.

linda m said...

My mother gave it to us broken up and mixed with sugar water. I don't believe everything the doctors say about the stomach problems. I also have been taking it my whole life and I'm still here.

Anonymous said...

I was taking the aspirin with my high blood pressure medicine and my type 2 diabetes medicine, the new doctor said only 81mg aspirin at all, I got the chewable 81mg and my hubby took them, so I get one now & then, the diabetes medicine she increased and I got really ill, so much for doctors knowing what works and doesn't at all...

JO said...

For me asprin is pour poison. to bad we didn't know that when I was a kid, would have caused lots less trouble. But I will agree its better than tylenol.

I'll sit for a bit on the patio.

Jim said...

Aspirin kept me out of the service. I had my tonsils out when I was 16. After coming back to my room from having them removed my throat hunt so my mom gave me some aspirin. I started hemorrhaging & they wheeled me back into the OR. We never told them about taking aspirin never thought about it causing the problem. The doctor labled me a hemophilic,it took 10 years to get that taken off my record.

HermitJim said...

Hey George...
I think the reason they like Tylenol over aspirin is that it's supposed to be easier on the stomach. Like I said, I've never had a problem.

A lot of the old folk medicines are the base of many modern medicines. Native Americans were very familiar with a lot of them.

Thanks for the visit today!


Hey Sixbears...
That's about how it is for me.

I agree that it's good we have it today without the prescription.

Thanks for coming over this morning.


Hey Anon 7:29...
I totally forgot about the Oreo cookie! Shame on me!

My favorite is peanut butter, so maybe that's why!

I'll still take the aspirin, I think!

Thanks for the visit this morning.


Hey Linda...
Mom's can be pretty when giving medicine! Guess that is one of the secrets in the Mom handbook!

Thanks for dropping by today!


Hey Anon 8:07...
Sometimes doctors can seem to do more harm than good! New ones are the worse, I think!

I appreciate the visit today!


Hey JoJo...
Sorry that you can't take aspirin, sweetie.

It's truly a wonder drug. in my opinion!

Thanks for coming over today!

HermitJim said...

Hey Jim...
That's one reason they made me stop taking it after I started the blood thinner. Didn't want me to bleed out, I reckon!

Does play the devil with the blood, but stops any aches...at least for me

Thanks, Jim, for coming over!

Recycled Cottage & Garden said...

Our family Dr. told us that aspirin in Coke would make a person drunk. That might not be a bad thing if you are in pain.

HermitJim said...

Hey LadyHawthorne...
Guess I missed out on that! I don't think Mom ever made us drunk, but that was a very long time ago!

I might just try it now, just as research ya understand!

Thanks for dropping by today!

Dizzy-Dick said...

Aspirin is good when I get a fever. If you have a really bad fever, you can take aspirin and in two hours ibepropen and then another two hours aspirin again. It is doubling up, but they don't interfere with each other.

BBC said...

I haven't used any Aspirin for years but only because I don't have any aches and pains even though I'm becoming an old fart.

Yes, it is a thinner, but that being so, just cut back a tad on the other thinners they want you to take if you need some Aspirin.

Hell, it's called practicing medicine and they make more off of other meds.

I've had a rash on my leg for over a year, just a small spot just above my ankle, what is finely starting to clear it up? Brandy.

Experiment, that's what they do.

And if you cut yourself bad reach for the used coffee grounds to stop the bleeding.

BBC said...

On the other hand, I've been so hard on my body that maybe I've killed everything that Aspirin could have helped.

LOL