First of all, I have not read this book in its entirety, but only browsed its interpretation, which is about 10,000 words.
Before this, the impression of aspirin in my mind mainly came from a physical examination experience a few years ago. At that time, an experienced old doctor told me that it is recommended to take a moderate amount of aspirin regularly after the age of 35 to prevent intestinal tumor diseases. Earlier, I thought the name aspirin was familiar, but I couldn't tell what function it had.
It turns out that aspirin is so awesome that it is so good that it can be defeated alone. This drug has been around for more than 100 years, and the annual global consumption still reaches more than 200 billion tablets, which means that each of the 7 billion people in the world still consumes more than 200 billion tablets. I take 30 tablets a year and 2-3 tablets a month. If you think about it, due to drug resistance, drugs are constantly being metabolized and new ones introduced. Penicillin and erythromycin that were familiar in the past seem to have faded away now. . For examples like aspirin, the only one I can think of is glyphosate in the pesticide industry, a powerful herbicide used with genetically modified crops (corn, soybeans). Decades after its birth, it can still easily kill the soil. All plants except genetically modified crops liberated a generation of farmers and caused great controversy.
The birth of aspirin was the result of a series of accidental events in the 18th century. When a British pastor was looking for medicine to treat "chill fever" (fever), he accidentally discovered that the taste of willow bark was similar to "cinchona", so he used it as a cheap medicine to replace "cinchona" to treat "chill fever". , actually achieved very good results.
Aspirin witnessed the development of the modern pharmaceutical industry. After the industrial revolution in the 19th century, chemistry got rid of alchemy, and medicine was no longer the exclusive domain of herbalists. After the successful synthesis of caffeine, quinine, etc., chemists finally discovered a strong acid called "salicylic acid" in willow bark. Although this strong acid was effective, it was very painful to the mouth and stomach, and doctors were reluctant to use it. The important task of improving salicylic acid into practical drugs fell on the shoulders of the dye industry. At that time, the coal chemical industry was booming. Chemists found a use for dirty coal tar and extracted a substance called aniline from it. Many colorful artificial dyes were synthesized on the Internet, which changed the situation of expensive and limited colors of natural dyes in one fell swoop. While changing people's lives, it also made dye factories make a fortune, including the famous "Bayer Company" in the future. /p>
A young man named "Duisberg" of Bayer Company used acetylation reaction to transform salicylic acid and named it "aspirin". During the same period, another important product was born. The acetyl compound, diacetylmorphine, is called "heroin". Soon, aspirin became a huge success, triggering a protracted patent war between Bayer and Yipiao. Table.
Later, a major event spread the reputation of aspirin throughout the world, which was the "Great Flu" caused by World War I and population movement. Although aspirin cannot cure "flu", But it can relieve pain and fever, and help some people finally defeat the flu through their own immune system. This pandemic killed tens of millions of people, but it also doubled the sales of aspirin. He made a lot of money, part of which was used to fund Hitler, which indirectly had an impact on World War II.
Interestingly, until the end of World War II, it was not clear why aspirin could cure diseases. This problem was only partially solved in the 1970s. It turns out that human pain is the result of a complex series of biochemical reactions, and aspirin can block one link in this string of dominoes, thereby reducing pain. However, humans still don’t know why aspirin can reduce fever but does not lower body temperature in people with normal body temperature.
If it were limited to reducing fever and pain relief, aspirin’s status as the number one miracle drug would have been lost long ago. At a time when many new drugs are emerging, people have discovered the cardiovascular effects of aspirin, that is, preventing thrombosis. This was actually discovered from the side effects of taking aspirin. Several athletes who had taken aspirin-containing chewing gum for a long time died due to hemorrhagic fever, and the hemolytic effect of aspirin was discovered.
(There are many examples of drug analogy. For example, Ma Yinglong, who treats hemorrhoids, also developed a new eye cream product)
Perhaps aspirin still has many miraculous effects, but the motivation for human beings to continue research and exploration has disappeared. This is because aspirin has already expired. No big drug dealer is willing to invest large sums of money to do charity.