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Pain is an inseparable part of everyone’s life. It is therefore no surprise that painkillers have been used since the inception of the first civilizations. For centuries, in the fight against ailments, people have turned to prayers and sacrifices, and the use of organic drugs – opioids – was also on the agenda. Today, medicine has made much progress, and instead of the inventions of alchemists and highly addictive drugs, we have safer drugs, such as ibuprofen, at our disposal. The road to this, however, was full of ups and downs.
Opium and morphine – the oldest painkillers
Cultivated around 3400 BC, opium was one of the first substances to be used as an extremely powerful pain reliever. The drug used by the Sumerians, Assyrians, Babylonians and Egyptians was noticed even in India, where it traveled with the troops of Alexander the Great. Opium was also used as a hypnotic and sedative, which was obtained by drying milk juice from unripe opium poppy seeds. It owed its strength to, among others occurrence in the composition of morphine, already known in ancient Greece. This is where the name comes from, given in honor of the god of sleep Morpheus.
The next step in the evolution of painkillers was the discovery of the 250th-century scientist Paracelsus, known as the father of modern medicine. He found that opium alkaloids dissolve better in alcohol than in water, and in this form they are absorbed faster by the body. Less than a hundred years later, the British Thomas Sydenham popularized the Paracelsus drink, which under the name “laudanum” covered almost the entire continent. This specific mixture of cinnamon, opium, sherry, saffron and cloves has been used for over XNUMX years to relieve the symptoms of a wide range of diseases, causing numerous cases of addiction, mainly among poorer people. This was because laudanum as a medicine was not subject to excise duty on alcohol, and was often treated as a substitute for strong drinks. Throughout the nineteenth century, the demand for opium grew and opium itself became such a coveted commodity that trade disputes led China and the British Empire into a series of bloody conflicts known throughout history as the Opium Wars.
Not the first, and not the last time, measures intended to relieve pain have changed their destiny. The same happened with morphine chemically isolated by Frierrich Serturner in 1804. Its strong action and not fully known side effects meant that it was used on a daily basis during the Civil War, leading to the permanent addiction of many wounded soldiers. Interestingly, one of them turned out to be the creator of Coca-Cola. The drink produced with the addition of cocaine and caffeine was supposed to be a gentle remedy for dealing with morphine addiction.
It was tragic to produce heroin, which was used since 1874 as a chronic pain reliever – intended to be less addictive to other available substances. And although thirty years later the US government banned the addition of opioids to food products, on the eve of World War II, IG Farben’s lab technicians made a similar mistake. Instead of a safe alternative to the heroin that was intended to be administered during surgery, they invented several times more potent than morphine and therefore extremely addictive methadone. Fortunately, narcotic drugs were not the only answer to pain relief. Apart from them, aspirin and paracetamol were also gaining more and more popularity.
Aspirin – the drug of Hippocrates
The road to inventing aspirin was not easy, but the beginnings of using its ancestor – salicylic acid – date back to around the 1829th century BC. taking it was recommended by Hippocrates and Cornelius Pliny himself. As with narcotic drugs, a breakthrough in this matter also took place in the 1897th century. In 12, it was possible to isolate salicin from the organic compound, and less than ten years later, the hydrolysis of salicin and the oxidation of saligenin to salicylic acid were performed. Over the next decades, scientists and pharmacists sought to obtain a stable form of the acetylsalicylic acid compound, but this was only achieved by the German chemist Felix Hoffmann in XNUMX. The drug marketed under the name “Aspirin” was the first completely synthetic painkiller. Currently, this moment is considered a symbolic beginning of the pharmaceutical industry, and the popular Aspirin enjoys unflagging popularity to this day. Unfortunately, the high risk of adverse effects in the gastrointestinal tract and the impossibility of administering the drug to children up to XNUMX years of age prompted the search for substances that are milder in action.
Paracetamol – an alternative to aspirin
Although Paracetamol was first synthesized in 1878 in the USA at Johns Hopkins University by the American chemist Harmon Northrop Morse, it was not released to the market until 1955 thanks to two American researchers. They promoted paracetamol as an alternative to aspirin – without side effects in the gastrointestinal tract, and possible to be administered to children in case of fever. Interestingly, the very first trade name (“Tylenol Children’s Elixir”) indicated exactly the target group. When the drug came to the UK a year later, it also became popular among the elderly, who, as advertised, “did not irritate the stomach.” Unfortunately, in the 60s there were reports of side effects. Taking paracetamol too often damaged the liver and contributed to the exacerbation of asthma symptoms. Nevertheless, the drug, when used as recommended, in the right doses was not harmful, and its sales systematically increased (in the years 1978-88 in the USA alone more than fivefold).
Ibuprofen – anti-inflammatory and antipyretic
Problems with liver damage, related to excessive consumption of paracetamol, indirectly contributed to the development of a more effective and less burdensome drug. This is how ibuprofen was developed, developed by Boots in the early 60s. Employees of the British company discovered that the anti-inflammatory properties of acetylsalicylic acid were related to the presence of a carboxylic acid group. After testing 6 other carboxylic acids that were supposed to fulfill similar functions, they developed a substance initially named “Brufen”. Its anti-inflammatory effect was twice as strong as the popular aspirin. Ibuprofen turned out to be a bull’s eye, and it was distinguished from other drugs by the combination of many desired effects. It was not only effective against pain, but also had antipyretic and anti-inflammatory properties. Ibuprofen, like paracetamol, can be used in children. At the same time, it shows a much lower risk of side effects in terms of the proper functioning of the liver, while revealing only a slightly higher risk of side effects in the gastrointestinal tract than paracetamol.
Before use, read the leaflet, which contains indications, contraindications, data on side effects and dosage as well as information on the use of the medicinal product, or consult your doctor or pharmacist, as each drug used improperly is a threat to your life or health. Do you need a medical consultation or an e-prescription? Go to halodoctor.pl, where you will get online help – quickly, safely and without leaving your home.