User:Beetstra/aspirin
Chemical compound / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Aspirin or acetylsalicylic acid (acetosal) is a drug in the family of salicylates, often used as an analgesic (against minor pains and aches), antipyretic (against fever), and anti-inflammatory. It has also an anticoagulant (“blood-thinning”) effect and is used in long-term low-doses to prevent heart attacks.
Names | |
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IUPAC name
2-(acetyloxy)benzoic acid | |
Other names
2-acetyloxybenzoic acid 2-acetoxybenzoic acid acetylsalicylate acetylsalicylic acid O-acetylsalicylic acid | |
Identifiers | |
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PubChem CID |
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UNII | |
Properties | |
C9H8O4 C6H4(OCOCH3)COOH | |
Molar mass | 180.16 g/mol |
Density | 1.40 |
Melting point | 136 |
Boiling point | 140 |
4.6 | |
Pharmacology | |
oral | |
Pharmacokinetics: | |
rapid & complete | |
hepatic | |
300-650 mg dose 3.1-3.2 hours 1 g dose 5 hours 2 g dose 9 hours | |
renal | |
Except where otherwise noted, data are given for materials in their standard state (at 25 °C [77 °F], 100 kPa).
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Clinical data | |
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ATC code |
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Legal status | |
Legal status |
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Pharmacokinetic data | |
Protein binding | 99.5% |
Low-dose long-term aspirin irreversibly blocks the formation of thromboxane A2 in platelets, producing an inhibitory effect on platelet aggregation, and this blood-thinning property makes it useful for reducing the incidence of heart attacks. Aspirin produced for this purpose often comes in 75 or 81 mg dispersible tablets and is sometimes called “Junior aspirin” or “Baby aspirin.” High doses of aspirin are also given immediately after an acute heart attack. These doses may also inhibit the synthesis of prothrombin and may therefore produce a second and different anticoagulant effect.
Several hundred fatal overdoses of aspirin occur annually, but the vast majority of its uses are beneficial. Its primary undesirable side effects, especially in stronger doses, are gastrointestinal distress (including ulcers and stomach bleeding) and tinnitus. Another side effect, due to its anticoagulant properties, is increased bleeding in menstruating women. Because there appears to be a connection between aspirin and Reye's syndrome, aspirin is no longer used to control flu-like symptoms in minors.[1]
Aspirin was the first discovered member of the class of drugs known as non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), not all of which are salicylates, though they all have similar effects and a similar action mechanism.