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For most of the over hundred years that aspirin has been around it has been thought of as just a commonplace drug with no special qualities. Although aspirin has been used to relieve pain from headaches, muscle pain, arthritis, and for fever reduction, most people have taken aspirin for granted. However, thanks to the research of British pharmacologist John Vane in the early 1970s we have found out that aspirin can be extremely effective in the treatment and prevention of heart attacks.
Aspirin was developed with little fanfare in 1897 by German chemist Felix Hoffman who worked for the Bayer company in Germany. Hoffman’s father was taking sodium salicylate in order to relieve his arthritis pain. This was a common treatment dating back to the fifth century B.C. when Greek physician Hippocrates treated pain and fever with powder extracted from the bark of willows which contained acetylsalicyclic acid. The active ingredient of the willow bark, salicin was isolated in 1829 and in 1875 sodium salicylate was developed. This sodium salicylate was the predecessor to aspirin. Unfortunaltely it often caused stomach irritation in people using it as was the case with Hoffman’s father. Hoffman finally solved this problem by synthesizing acetylsalicylic acid. Bayer gave this gave this new analgesic the trade name of “aspirin.”
From the time of its development by Hoffman until the early 1970s little was known about how aspirin actually works. The laboratory studies conducted by John Vane gave us our first real insight into the workings of aspirin. Vane noted that aspirin blocked the synthesis of prostaglandins in the body. Prostglandins are what causes the blood to clot, which is why aspirin is effective in treating inflammations from fever.
From this discovery, Vane inquired into whether the inhibition of prostaglandins by aspirin can be used to treat and prevent heart attacks since this coronary problem is often caused by clotting of the arterial walls. In order to test this theory scientists carried out a series of controlled clinical trials where similar groups of people are given either aspirin or a placebo. These clinical trials demonstrated that aspirin substantially reduces the risk of heart attack in healthy individuals. In addition, aspirin can be used as an effective treatment for people suffering a heart attack. The results showed that aspirin, when taken immediately during a heart attack, will reduce the risk of death by 23 percent. The testing also showed that aspirin was so effective in the prevention of heart attacks in healthy individuals that the clinical trials were halted early, after nearly five years of testing, so that the people taking placebos could take advantage of the health benefits of aspirin.
Thanks to this aspirin research by Vane, we have been fortunate to find out that this commonplace and inexpensive drug can also work miracles in the treatment and prevention of coronary disease.
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