Aspirin

“ When the Bayer Company, Inc., took over the manufacture of aspirin in this country, the first steps were taken to identify the product with the firm who made it.... Of course, there are good reasons why the makers were loth to advertise the product or to exploit their trademark. As every one knows, the advertising of a medical proposition is an extremely ticklish subject.... It is easy to make a misstep. Aspirin is one of those proprietary drugs that are extensively prescribed by physicians. ”

“ He sat down in the shelter of the cliff, unstrapped his pack, and rummaged inside. Where the hell was the blasted aspirin? There. He took out the bottle and gave himself a massive fifteen-grain dose. Maybe it would make him feel better. He didn't like to use medicine; it made him seem weak in his own eyes. But there are times when necessity is the mother of prevention. ”

“ He paid for the aspirin, accepted the druggist's offer of a glass of water, downed two pills, and left.
"Seemed in a hurry," Rick commented.
The druggist nodded. "Seemed so. He usually stops to pass the time of day. Had a terrible time yesterday with an infected hangnail. They can be pretty painful. I tried to sell him a new analgesic ointment, but he insisted on methyl chloride. ”

“ Aspirin.—Dose 5 to 15 grains. Should be taken with a drink of water. Useful in rheumatic and febrile conditions; often relieves headache and the feeling of discomfort associated with chill. It is apt to be depressing in large doses, and some persons do not tolerate it well. Speaking generally it may be used in those conditions in which salicylate of soda is indicated.
Bismuth carbonate.—Dose, five to twenty grains. Useful in dyspepsia, pain in the stomach, vomiting and diarrhœa. ”

“ The Journal of the American Medical Association, in past years, has protested repeatedly against the monopoly given to the Bayer Company for their “Aspirin,” contending that acetyl­salicylic acid (aspirin) was not new, and that “Aspirin, Bayer” was simply a good brand of acetyl­salicylic acid which could be bought in foreign countries at much lower prices than here. Although the patent in the United States has expired, “Aspirin, Bayer” is still being retailed at higher prices than other products which are now enjoying the privilege of American manufacture. ”

“ When the cold manifests itself by aches and pains in back and limbs, aspirin taken three or four times in the first twenty-four hours will often act like magic. Locally a snuff made of menthol 1 part, ammonium chloride 3 parts and boracic acid 2 parts will relieve the discomfort of the nose. ”

“ Treatment.—Rest in bed, light diet, and one full dose of laudanum, i.e., thirty drops, given as early as possible. Chlorodyne in the same dose may also be used. Quinine is useless and may aggravate the symptoms, but aspirin and the salicylates are helpful. If there is much pain in the muscles the application of hot sand-bags may afford relief. ”

“ Exalgin, Aspirin, etc., as well as the above, may all act as poisons to certain persons, and even small medicinal doses may cause serious and even fatal consequences.
Symptoms (more or less common to all) .—Nausea, vomiting, hurried respiration, marked cyanosis, syncope. Persistent sneezing and widespread urticaria may be present; collapse.
Aniline is an oily liquid, heavier than, and not soluble in, water. ”

“ The habit of taking aspirin regularly or in large quantities, which too many women indulge in if sleepless during this time, is extremely bad both for the child and for the mother. Drugs of any sort should not be appealed to. ”

“ There is another triple nostrum for diabetes which, on examination, was found to consist of tablets of aspirin, unsweetened lime-juice, and a pink powder composed of sodium sulphate flavoured with oil of peppermint and tinted with phenolphthalein. These simple remedies were solemnly vouched for by the vendors in the following words: “We have satisfied ourselves that the treatment is an absolute and permanent cure”! Apparently the law cannot reach those who publish deliberately untruthful statements with the object of selling their goods. ”

“ Liniments containing opium, belladonna or aconite rubbed into the affected part will often soothe the most severe local pain. And antipyrin, phenacetin, aspirin and similar analgetics are commonly taken. ”

“ To list all the great discoveries in the field of science and medicine during the past century, such as aspirin, insulin, penicillin, and the streptomycin drugs would require the undivided attention of a medical historian and a veritable encyclopedia to record them.
And yet, there are still many diseases that plague man of which he has no knowledge. They eat and ravage his mind and body with excruciating pain and torture, and he is utterly helpless against [Pg 49] them. ”

“ The treatment is directed towards increasing the action of the kidneys, skin and bowels. A brisk mercurial purgative is indicated, and salicin and aspirin are useful in many cases. Considerable relief may be obtained by washing out the nasal cavities several times a day with a warm lotion containing boric acid. ”

“ The thing is to try and get the disease out of the system. It is always a good plan to commence with a good purge; after this has worked off, give a course of salicylate of soda, from two to [272] fifteen grains [1] three times a day, either in tabloid form, put up in cachets, or even dissolved in a little water. If this medicine does not give relief in twenty-four hours, try aspirin or salicine, the doses are the same. ”

“ Treatment for acute kind.—The first thing to do is to rest in bed and control the pain and acute symptoms. Hot applications help to relieve the suffering. Patient must be kept comfortably and constantly warm and quiet. Hot applications of lead water and laudanum.
Medicines.—It may be necessary to use morphine to control the pain. Remedies such as antipyrine or aspirin are often used. A physician must be called. When the disease is caused by arsenic and lead and alcohol, of course you must remove the cause before you can hope for any improvement. ”

“ The articles on this nostrum are reprinted in the ninth edition of “The Propaganda for Reform.”
259 See index for additional article.
260 The Bayer people may try to convey the impression that “Aspirin” is pure and reliable whereas other brands are not. Since acetyl­salicylic acid is a definite chemical compound, there is no more likelihood of this being sophisticated than there is of quinin being adulterated. Furthermore, the Council in accepting acetyl­salicylic acid for New and Non­official Remedies has provided standards of purity which will insure a uniform product. ”

“ The public does not know, as physicians do, that headaches are merely symptoms of other, sometimes very serious conditions; and that they are often the signal for the need of a thorough physical examination and diagnosis. It is true that they are often also the symptoms of very minor derangements, which will right themselves spontaneously; and that, in such cases, drugs like aspirin may give relief and may do no harm. ”

“ In addition to positive interferences from styrene and xylene in the workplace, the ingestion of sodium benzoate in food, salicylic acid, or aspirin by the worker will produce a positive interference. ”

“ It is seldom that other means are required. Aspirin for children seems relatively without effect. For children who are both sleepless and feverish, Page 72 a grain of Dover's powder, and a grain of antipyrin, for each year of the child's age up to three, is very helpful. Lastly, if chloral and bromide cannot break the insomnia, and the condition of the child is becoming distressing, we can almost always succeed if we combine the prescription with an ordinary hot pack for twenty minutes. ”

“ Chemists and Druggists' Union, said that it was felt very strongly that the seriousness of colds should not be minimised, but that foreign travel was an error. No malady was so much helped by the timely and constant employment of remedies at home. He trusted that the remarks of the last speaker would speedily be contradicted by a competent authority.
Sir Consul Tait, the famous physician, held that alcohol was the greatest provocative of colds; aspirin was their greatest enemy. ”

“ It is important that you are completely honest with the doctor and staff about your health history. You should not take part in this study if you do not meet all requirements.
You cannot participate in this study if:
You have an active infection or other serious condition such as cardiac disease You have had another malignant cancer less than five years ago You take aspirin or aspirin like medication that you are unable to stop taking for a few days during each cycle of therapy You are unable or unwilling to take folic acid, vitamin B12 and dexamethasone or other corticosteroids medication. ”

“ Its sodium salt is transformed into the isomeric C6H4 (OC6H5) CO2Na when heated to 300°. When heated in air for many hours it decomposes, yielding carbon dioxide, (phenol and xanthone. Acetyl-salicylic acid (salacetic acid) , C6H4 (O·COCH3) ·CO2H, is obtained by the action of acetyl chloride on the acid or its sodium salt (K. Kraut, Ann., 1869, 150, p. 9) . It crystallizes in needles and melts at 132° C. (with decomposition) . Hydrolysis with baryta water gives acetic and salicylic acids. It is used in medicine under the names aspirin, acetysal, aletodin, saletin, xaxa, &c. ”

“ He diagnosed the attack as mild influenza, prescribed the appropriate remedies, and left her to the care or her one servant in her comfortable Berlin flat. Frau Ebermann, beneath the thick coverlet, curled up with what patience she could until the aspirin should begin to act, and Anna should come back from the chemist with the formamint, the ammoniated quinine, the eucalyptus, and the little tin steam-inhaler. Meantime, every bone in her body ached; her head throbbed; her hot, dry hands would not stay the same size for a minute together ”

“ These powders pretend to cure asthma, biliousness, headaches, colds, catarrh and grip (dose: powder every four hours during the day for a week!—a pretty fair start on the Orangeine habit) , diarrhea, hay fever, insomnia, influenza, neuralgia, seasickness and sciatica.
Of course, they do not cure any of these; they do practically nothing but give temporary relief by depressing the heart. With the return to normal conditions of blood circulation comes a recurrence of the nervousness, [034] headache, or what not, and the incentive to more of the drug, until it becomes a necessity. ”

“ In dysentery and other painful affections of the intestines, this is considered by the best medical authority to be a certain relief. Dr. Druit directs from one hundred to one hundred and twenty drops to be administered. A whole teaspoonful has been often used in severe cases. The less mucilage used, the more likely is the injection to remain in the rectum. An opiate injection for a child not over a year old may consist of two or three drops of laudanum mixed in three quarters of an ounce of mucilage. Opiate injections should not be administered often, without the advice of a physician. ”

“ With concise information concerning the modes of infection and the dangers of waiting until a disease has a firm hold before consulting the health mender, people should be able to protect themselves from infections and be able to nip chronic processes [227] in the bud. But it is difficult to turn the average individual away from the habit of having a drug-clerk prescribe a dose of medicine for the ailment that troubles him. It is really unfortunate that most of the pains and aches and morbid sensations that one has speedily pass away with little or no treatment. ”

“ Any irritant, as a solution of Iron, Arsenic, or Zinc, will do the same. The action of a violent purgative will cause headache while it lasts. Although we cannot deny the possibility of other actions of the same kind, yet there are so few medicines which, in ordinary and safe doses, are capable of producing pain in any way, that it becomes difficult or impossible to adduce a satisfactory example of an agent which operates on distant parts in this manner when in the blood. ”

“ It is most unlikely that these two innocuous substances should play any part in the claimed powerful effect of Anasarcin; they are evidently put in the formula, we do not say in the preparation, to obscure the fact that Anasarcin is composed principally of squill. That this is so can be gathered unmistakably from a study of the pharmacologic action of Anasarcin as described by its promoters:
Acting primarily on the heart and arterial systems through the nerve ganglia, a natural physiologic balance is established between the arterial and venous systems, whereby effusions ... ”

“ In overdoses, it is an energetic, narcotic poison. In medicinal doses it is anodyne, antispasmodic, diaphoretic, and diuretic. It is excellent in neuralgia, epilepsy, mania, amaurosis, whooping-cough, stricture, rigidity of the os uteri, and is supposed by some to be a prophylactic or preventive of Scarlet Fever. Its influence upon the nerve centers is remarkable. It relaxes the blood vessels on the surface of the body and induces capillary congestion, redness of the eye, scarlet appearance of the face, tongue, and body. Dose—Of fluid extract, one-half to one drop ”

“ She is to take one of these pills the moment the pain attending this discharge comes on. A pill may be taken every hour till the pain ceases: more than two will seldom be required; yet they must be taken in quantities sufficient to mitigate the pain. Let the patient keep either in or upon the bed, or at least in a recumbent posture, drink moderately of any diluting liquor, as herb teas, weak whey, or thin broth. When the time is past, a course of chalybeate bitters, in small doses, may be continued, till within a few days of the return ”