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How aspirin was discovered - Krishna Sudhir

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4000 years ago, the ancient Sumerians made a surprising discovery: if they scraped the bark off a particular kind of tree and ate it, their pain disappeared. Little did they know that what they’d found was destined to influence the future course of medicine. Krishna Sudhir traces the history of aspirin.

Additional Resources for you to Explore

A good discussion on the benefits and risks of daily aspirin therapy can be found here.

Find out who should take aspirin and at what dose at Answers About Aspirin. Also, here is a link to the Physician’s Health Study, documenting the benefits of aspirin in decreasing the risk of a heart attack.

This overview from the National Cancer Institute discusses aspirin and reduction in cancer risk. Here is more information about the 1982 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for discoveries related to prostaglandins and related substances. 

To learn more about Dr. Lawrence Craven, the little-known doctor who first discovered some of Aspirin's benefits, visit here.

Krishna Sudhir is a physician and cardiologist. He has taught students and physicians in India, Australia, and California. He holds an MD from the University of Madras, India, and a PhD from Monash University, Australia. He is also a Fellow of the Royal Australian College of Physicians, the American College of Cardiology, and the Society for Cardiac Angiography and Intervention.

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Meet The Creators

  • Educator Krishna Sudhir
  • Director Outis
  • Script Editor Emma Bryce
  • Associate Producer Jessica Ruby
  • Content Producer Gerta Xhelo
  • Editorial Producer Alex Rosenthal
  • Narrator Addison Anderson

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