Aspirin is really a magical little pill and probably one of the most important medications available. Aspirin has a very powerful preventive effect associated with strokes and heart disease. But most of us know it for curing pain, and it’s common for people to wonder just how aspirin knows how to find that aching area.
The answer is that it doesn’t! Aspirin is not the pain-seeking bloodhound it appears to be. Pain is a very complex process, and although we would love to avoid an explanation, here is a simplified version…
Let’s say you’re bowling with your friend Barney and you drop the bowling ball on your toe. Although the pain is felt in the throbbing toe, the cells and nerve ending are damaged and release chemicals. These chemicals send messages along the pain fibers to the brain where they are registered as pain. One group of chemicals involved is called prostaglandins, and aspirin works by stopping the cells from making prostaglandins. Prostaglandins are also responsible for inflammation and aspirin also blocks this effects.
So now you need some pain medication. When you take aspirin, it is absorbed in the stomach or intestine and it enters the bloodstream. From there it goes throughout the entire body, not just the injured area. It works its magic wherever prostaglandins are being made. The results – temporary relief of pain and inflammation.
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"How does aspirin find the pain?" was posted on Thursday, June 5th, 2008 at 11:12 pm.