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ASPIRIN – Acetylsalicylic Acid
September/October 2002 ISSN-1059-6518 Volume 15, Number 5
The Medicine Chest
ASPIRIN- Acetylsalicylic Acid
by R.X. Daley, PharmD
History: The earliest know uses of salicin, the naturally occurring form of aspirin found in willow bark, dates back to the 5th century B.C. Greek physician Hippocrates, who used it for pain relief.
Salicin was modified to sodium salicylate and was used in the early 1800’s as a pain reliever. However, this form of aspirin was very hard on the stomach. In 1897 a German 
chemist named Felix Hoffman, in order to help his arthritic father, altered sodium salicylate to acetylsalicylic acid in an effort to make a form of aspirin that was easier on the stomach.
