Aspirin: Medicine From Willow Bark

Hippocrates prescribed willow bark for pain, and chemists eventually traced its power to salicin, later converted to salicylic acid. Felix Hoffmann acetylated it at Bayer in 1897, creating acetylsalicylic acid with less stomach irritation. Aspirin inhibits cyclooxygenase enzymes, calming pain, fever, and clotting alike. A daily low dose still protects millions of hearts..

.