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Article: 'ASPIRIN' ONCE GREW ON TREES.(Entertainment/Weekend/Spotlight)
- Article from:
- Rocky Mountain News (Denver, CO)
- Article date:
- October 12, 2002
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2002 Rocky Mountain News. All rights reserved. Reproduced with the permission of Dialog LLC by Gale Group. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Byline: Mike Rudeen
ROCKY MOUNTAIN NEWS
When was aspirin discovered, by whom, and what is its derivation? I heard once that it comes from tree bark. - Dee Nelson
Originally, a version of aspirin did come from tree bark. In the fifth century B.C., Hippocrates wrote about a powder extracted from willow bark that eased aches and pains and reduced fevers. Though it worked, the powder was hard on the stomach, sometimes causing internal bleeding.
There were various attempts to ``buffer,'' or neutralize, the acid that resulted from salicin, the compound in willow and related plants that provides the pain relief but upsets the stomach. Some worked, but the research ...