Ibuprofen: How the Hangover Led to the Discovery of One of the World's Most Popular Remedies – News



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Stewart Adams knew that he had found a possible new pain reliever after curing a hangover shortly before delivering an important speech.

"I was the first to talk and I had a bit of a headache after a night with friends, so I took a 600 mg dose to be sure, and I thought it was very effective. "

Adams died last Wednesday at the age of 95. In 1992, the pharmacist recalled years of research, endless testing of compounds and many disappointments before he and his team managed to use ibuprofen.

Ibuprofen has become one of the world's most popular pain relievers. It's hard to find a medicine cabinet without pills.

Do you have a fever? Headache? Back pain? Teeth ache? It is therefore likely that ibuprofen is the drug of choice for the treatment of its symptoms because it acts quickly and is even available in supermarkets.

The British National Health Service, however, warns that the drug should be taken at least as short a dose as it can cause side effects such as nausea and vomiting.

Its popularity for the treatment of pain is not simply a phenomenon on British territory. In India, for example, it is the treatment of choice against fever and pain and, in the United States, it is an over-the-counter drug since 1984. It is also used to treat inflammation in the context of diseases such as arthritis.

Adams noticed a trip to Afghanistan in the 1970s, until the discoveries of village pharmacies along the Khyber Pbad sold their discovery.

The Search for a Challenge

It all started with a 16-year-old boy from Northamptonshire, England, who left school without a project for the # 39; future.

He became a pharmacy apprentice at Boots, now a large branch network, and his experience led him to pursue pharmacy studies. at the University of Nottingham, followed by a Ph.D. in pharmacology at the University of Leeds, before returning to the Boots Research Department in 1952.

At the time, he had to find a new treatment for rheumatoid arthritis as effective as possible.

He began to badyze the anti-inflammatory drugs and in particular the operation of aspirin, which no one seemed to do.

Aspirin was the first anti-inflammatory drug. Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug to develop in 1897. Even though it was commonly used as an badgesic at the time, it had to be administered at very high doses. As a result, the risk of side effects, such as allergic reaction, bleeding, and indigestion, was high.

In search of an alternative, Adams recruited chemist John Nicholson and his trainer Colin Burrows to help you test the potency of more than 600 chemical compounds. The important thing was to find a drug well tolerated by the body.

From the living room of an old Victorian house in the suburb of Nottingham, the small team patiently tested the compounds until they found something interesting to do. # 39; object of clinical trials.

"I thought we would finally succeed, I always thought we would succeed."

And he was always ready.

Adams realized that his chances of success were minimal, but he and his team persevered for 10 years.

Science Photo Library Ibuprofen is now produced by a number of different companies

Adams admitted that this would never be allowed nowadays, but said that at least

" It was important to test them and I was delighted to be the first person to take a dose of ibuprofen. "

Meanwhile. At the time, four drugs were the subject of clinical trials and failed before reaching the compound called 2- (4-isobutylphenyl) propanoic acid or isobutylpropanoic acid in 1961, which would later become ibuprofen.

A patent because the substance was given to Boots in 1962 and approved as a prescription drug seven years later

According to Dave McMillan, former head of health development at Boots UK, ibuprofen was a extremely important medicine for the company. .

"This saved Boots and contributed to its expansion in the United States and around the world.It was Boots' number one drug."

20,000 tons of ibuprofen are produced each year by some number of companies under different brands. There are also different formats, including liquid doses developed specifically for children. awarded for his research by an honorary doctor of science from the University of Nottingham and two boards of the Royal Society of Chemistry. He remained with Boots until the end of his career, becoming chief of the pharmaceutical sciences [19659002] What pleased him the most was that hundreds of millions of people around the world took the medicines that he discovered.

The path was long and it all started with a headache.

How does ibuprofen work?

] This is a nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug. Because of its chemical structure different from that of steroids, ibuprofen is not as toxic

It reduces pain when you target flammable compounds. Prostaglandins, which cause inflammation in the body. The inflammation can cause swelling, heat, redness, loss of function, fever and pain.

The badgesic effect begins shortly after the dose is administered, but the inflammation may take longer to subside.

been in the treatment of minor pains. But like any medicine, it has side effects, especially if its use is continuous.

Last year, researchers at the University of Copenhagen discovered other effects of prolonged use of ibuprofen, such as male infertility , muscle wasting, fatigue, heart failure and fatigue. and erectile dysfunction.

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