Why aspirin has been called a wonder drug
Aspirin is an inexpensive preventive medicine, as a daily low dose aspirin costs just pennies. Also known as acetylsalicylic acid, aspirin is a salicylate drug, often used as an analgesic to relieve minor aches and pains, as an antipyretic to reduce fever, and as an anti-inflammatory medication. Plant extracts including willow bark and spiraea , of which salicylic acid was the active ingredient, have been known to help heal headaches, pains and fevers since antiquity. Aspirin has been creating a buzz in the news of late. Researchers in the UK recently published the results of clinical trials regarding aspirin use in the British medical journal, The Lancet . While it has been known for some time that daily use of low dose aspirin lowers the risk of death from heart attacks, the new research suggests that daily use of aspirin reduces cancer deaths as well. Among the 25,570 patients participated in trials lasting between four and eight ye...