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Aspirin

SITTING like a sardine on a long haul flight isn't just uncomfortable - it could be deadly.

Hours of being shoe-horned into a tightly-packed aircraft with your knees bunched up against the seat in front can lead to fatal blood clots, especially for older people.

It now even has a name - economy-class syndrome - because it is linked to the cramped conditions in the cheaper seats on planes which restrict movement and can trigger deep vein thrombosis.

On a long flight, lack of circulation means the blood can thicken up, and form a clot - deep vein thrombosis. The blood clot starts in the legs, but can work its way up to the heart or lungs, with fatal consequences.

There have been cases of people dying of a blood clot as long as two or three weeks after a long flight, and though middle-aged and elderly people are usually most at risk young people have also been victims of DVT.

But in the age of the super-drug, it is a household headache remedy, the everyday Aspirin, which is again being hailed as a life-saver which could dramatically cut the numbers affected.

For just one tablet an hour before a flight will thin the blood and stop dangerous clots from forming, say experts.

It's just another of the myriad uses, which continue to astound scientists, for a truly amazing medication developed just over a century ago, but known about by the ancient Greeks.

The little white tablet today commonly found in most homes, was first patented in 1899, but with new uses still coming to light, it can be fairly hailed as the wonder drug of the age, and the oldest medicine in general use.

Derived from salicin, found in willow bark and meadowsweet, it began as a herbal medicine.

Records dating from 400 BC show that Hippocrates, the Greek father of medicine, was giving women a brew made from willow bark infusions to ease the pain of childbirth.

In 1763 the Rev Edward Stone, who used to chew a twig of willow when out walking near his Oxfordshire home, tested out its effectiveness on pain among 50 parishioners. His report, on what was really an early clinical trial, was published in the journal of the Royal Society.

By the mid-19th century salicylic acid was being made in the lab, but its side-effects, including severe irritation of the stomach and mouth were unpleasant.

The German company Bayer began a hunt for compounds to ease these, and the result was Aspirin, patented in 1899.

By the 1950s it was the best-selling painkiller and in 1969 it went to the moon with Neil Armstrong aboard the Apollo.

But challenged by newer painkillers without its irritant effect on the stomach it declined in popularity.

Then Dr John Vane of the Royal College of Surgeons actually unlocked the secrets of how it worked, earning himself a knighthood and Nobel Prize for his research, which opened up a Pandora's box of medical versatility.

Aspirin acts to inhibit the production of prosta-glandins, hormones that are necessary for blood clotting and sensitising nerve endings to pain.

First used to fight pain, fever and inflammation because it thins the blood it has become a preventative treatment for heart attacks and stroke.

It is now seen as a powerful weapon in the fight against heart disease. Low-dose aspirin rapidly thins the blood and is a life-saver in the first critical hours following a heart attack. An instant chewable or soluble aspirin given to someone having a heart attack, in addition to dialling 999, could be a vital life-saver.

Regular doses of aspirin can also reduce the risks of stroke, and research has shown that as little as half an aspirin a day can halve the risk of angina.

Its anti-inflammatory properties help the pain of arthritis and long-term trials are now underway to see if it can stave off Alzheimers disease and prevent senile dementia.

It is also being looked at to see if it can be used in the fight against AIDS, and it has also been used to help women who have suffered several miscarriages achieve successful pregnancies.

But perhaps its most exciting potential may be in the prevention of cancer. There is evidence that it can inhibit colon and bowel cancer, and Salford's Hope Hospital is among nine centres nationally half-way through a five-year study to see if aspirin can protect against bowel cancer which kills 30,000 a year in the UK.

There is also a debate among experts on whether it reduces the risk of other cancers such as breast and prostate. Recent research by British experts says it may slow or prevent the spread of prostate cancer but stress that it is not yet a cure.

Warning!! The temptation may be to pop an Aspirin ''just in case'' in the hope of warding off a variety of ills.
But remember, it may be common - the world gets through 50 million tons a year - but it is still a powerful drug.

Doctors warn that patients should not self-medicate in the hope of preventing conditions, and as with all medicines, you should check with a doctor or pharmacist before taking aspirin at all. Don't take it on an empty stomach, or give it to children under 12 without a doctor's advice.

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