WEBVTT - BrainStuff Classics: How Does Aspirin Work?

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to brain Stuff from How Stuff Works. Hey brain Stuff,

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<v Speaker 1>I'm Lauren Vogelbaum, and today's episode is a brain Stuff classic,

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<v Speaker 1>How does Aspirin Work? I wrote this one for our

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<v Speaker 1>YouTube channel a while back while I was going through

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<v Speaker 1>a pain research phase, which yes, is just about as

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<v Speaker 1>goth as it sounds. It was performed for the podcast

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<v Speaker 1>by our former host, Christian Saga. Let's dive in, Hey

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<v Speaker 1>brain Stuff. It's Christian Sager here. There are lots of

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<v Speaker 1>ways to numb yourself to the minor aches and pains

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<v Speaker 1>that we humans accrew in our daily lives. But today

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<v Speaker 1>we're talking about aspirin. Why aspirin, Because although aspirin as

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<v Speaker 1>we know it has only existed since the late eighteen hundreds,

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<v Speaker 1>the plant that it was originally derived from, willow, is

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<v Speaker 1>probably the oldest known pain killer in history. Records of

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<v Speaker 1>people using willow leaves to relieve pain and fevers stretch

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<v Speaker 1>back six thousand years to ancient Assyria and sumer Willow

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<v Speaker 1>was also put to use in ancient Egypt, Babylon, and China,

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<v Speaker 1>and Hippocrates thought it was pretty rad especially for pain

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<v Speaker 1>during childbirth. In the seventeen and eighteen hundreds, scientists worked

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<v Speaker 1>on identifying, extracting, and purifying the active ingredient in willow,

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<v Speaker 1>which turned out to be a chemical they called salison,

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<v Speaker 1>which they further discovered your digestive system changes into salacilic acid,

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<v Speaker 1>which is what reacts with stuff in your body to

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<v Speaker 1>relieve pain, reduced fever, and swelling. More on how all

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<v Speaker 1>that works In a second, but first salacilic acid. It

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<v Speaker 1>was a pharmacological superstar. German chemists figured out how to

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<v Speaker 1>synthesize it on an industrial scale in the eighteen seventies,

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<v Speaker 1>effectively ending millennia of willow powder use. But it had

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<v Speaker 1>its drawbacks. Lots of patients couldn't stomach it literally, it

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<v Speaker 1>was really hard on the stomach lining The son of

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<v Speaker 1>one such patient, a chemist with Friedrich bear in Company

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<v Speaker 1>by the name of Felix Hoffman, thought it might be

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<v Speaker 1>less irritating if it was less acidic, so Hoffman converted

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<v Speaker 1>it to what bear in Company dubbed aspirin in eight

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<v Speaker 1>Aspirin has become the popular and less ridiculous to pronounce

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<v Speaker 1>name for Hoffman's chemical compound, a setal silic acid or salicylate.

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<v Speaker 1>It works as humanity finally figured out in the nineteen

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<v Speaker 1>seventies by preventing yourselves from using cyclo oxygen ase to

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<v Speaker 1>to create prostaglandins. And don't worry, I'm about to unpack

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<v Speaker 1>all of those words. Let's start with the idea that

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<v Speaker 1>lots of pain is useful evolutionarily speaking, when you feel

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<v Speaker 1>pain due to an injury like a burn or a

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<v Speaker 1>twisted ankle, it prompts you to take your hand away

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<v Speaker 1>from that hot thing real quick, or to keep your

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<v Speaker 1>weight off the ankle until it heals. It's it's useful, right.

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<v Speaker 1>Pain from an injury to anything but the nervous system

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<v Speaker 1>is called no susceptive pain. After specialized sensory neurons located

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<v Speaker 1>throughout your body called no susceptors, They alert your brain

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<v Speaker 1>to damage. With the help of the damaged tissue itself,

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<v Speaker 1>cells in the hurt areas start producing enzymes that work

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<v Speaker 1>together to create a few signal chemicals, including those prostaglandins

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<v Speaker 1>I mentioned a minute ago. Prostaglandins tell your no susceptors, no, hey, seriously,

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<v Speaker 1>there is a problem here. They make your no susceptors

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<v Speaker 1>increase the signal to your brain. You feel the pain

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<v Speaker 1>more acutely now Prostaglandins are also one of the chemicals

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<v Speaker 1>that cause inflammation in the tissue around a wound. They

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<v Speaker 1>make your blood vessels expand, flooding the damaged tissue with

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<v Speaker 1>all the immune systems stuff your body sends to protect

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<v Speaker 1>the wound from infection and to help it to heal.

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<v Speaker 1>All of this is great right up until it isn't.

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<v Speaker 1>After a certain point. You don't need continual acute pain

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<v Speaker 1>as a reminder that you're injured. We know, and some

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<v Speaker 1>non susceptive pain and swelling is warning us about stimuli

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<v Speaker 1>that we can't easily avoid, like headaches, arthritis, or period cramps.

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<v Speaker 1>In the case of arthritis, that inflammation can even cause

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<v Speaker 1>more damage in the long run. Here's where aspirin swoops

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<v Speaker 1>in to save the day. When you take aspirin, it's

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<v Speaker 1>absorbed by your digestive tract into your blood stream, which

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<v Speaker 1>takes it throughout your body, including places where cells are

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<v Speaker 1>excreting the enzymes necessary to produce prostaglandins. Molecules of aspirin

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<v Speaker 1>lock up with one of those enzymes, cyclo oxygenase too.

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<v Speaker 1>Once a molecule of cyclo oxygenase two is locked into

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<v Speaker 1>a molecule of aspirin, it can't help create prostaglandins, which

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<v Speaker 1>means fewer prostaglandins, which means that the pain signals to

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<v Speaker 1>your brain don't increase as much and the tissue in

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<v Speaker 1>the area doesn't swell as much. Hey, thanks thousands of

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<v Speaker 1>years of science. Today's episode was produced by Tyler Klang.

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<v Speaker 1>If you miss Christian and want to hear more from him,

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<v Speaker 1>check out his pop culture podcast super Context, And of course,

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<v Speaker 1>for more on this and lots of other anti inflammatory topics,

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<v Speaker 1>visit our home planet, how stuff works dot com.