Currently, paracetamol is a first-line choice for pain management; those with osteoarthritis, simple headaches, and those with musculoskeletal conditions. With proper use, it is rare for paracetamol to have adverse affects.
Aspirin and paracetamol may have very different histories and development but share similar mechanisms within the body and their corresponding side effects. Although aspirin has many added benefits that paracetamol does not, paracetamol continues to be the most used pain relief within Australian households.
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Hippocrates of Kos, the famous physician of ancient Greece, used extracts from the willow bark, called salicin, to reduce fevers and relieve pain. Salicin is formed of glucose and salicyl alcohol. Oxidation occurs to form acetylsalicylic acid from salicylic acid (Shepherd, Petherick, Martin 2019). Salicylic acid, the active part of the salicin molecule, reduces fever and relieves pain but also acts as an anti-inflammatory although it can be very irritating to the stomach (Shepherd, Petherick, Martin 2019).
Charles Frédéric Gerhardt first prepared acetylsalicylic acid; now Aspirin, forty years before Hoffman’s experiment. In acetylsalicylic acid, the acetyl group, replaces the H of the phenolic OH group of salicylic acid (Shepherd, Petherick, Martin 2019). Hofmann’s experiment, testing his father’s arthritis with acetylsalicylic acid, turned out to be successful and now the Bayer Company, in 1899, began to market powdered ‘Aspirin’. The name in combination of Acetyl and the Spir from Spiraea Ulmaria, the meadowsweet plant. Today, Aspirin is the most common drug for illness and injury and over 100 billion 50mg tablets are manufactured per year (ASPREE 2020).
Paracetamol’s history dates back to 1893. This was the first time it was clinically used. Unlike aspirin, paracetamol was discovered by accident when a similar molecule acetanilide was put to use as an analgesic and antipyretic medicine in the late 1800’s (PubChem 2016). Australia began using it commercially in 1956. Originally it was sold under the name ‘Triagesic’, but was removed as it was found to potentially cause blood damage but later that was proven wrong and it was brought back by Sterling-Winthrop Company as 'Panadol; (Brune, Renner, Tiegs 2014). You could only retrieve it with a prescription up until 1959, then it became an over-the-counter medication. It is now considered a house hold drug and amongst the most popular drugs for injury and illness. (Informed Health 2016). Paracetamol is one of the most common drugs used in the world, and is manufactured in huge quantities.
Aspirin and Paracetamol serve many of the same purposes including the use for analgesic treatment to soothe headaches, toothaches, menstrual pain and rheumatoid arthritis (Szalay 2014). They also contain a atipyrecticc effect to help reduce fevers. Aspirin has added benefits including anti-coagulant and anti-inflammatory properties.
They have the same purposes due to their similar structure. Aspirin and paracetamol are recognised by the same enzyme. This enzyme is responsible for the biosynthesis of prostaglandins, which are involved in the dilation of blood vessels that causes pain experienced in a headache. Reduction of the amount of prostaglandin, therefore, helps and prevents headaches and other pain (Fitzgerald 2011).
Aspirin and paracetamol share similar side effects including headaches, heartburn, nausea and stomach discomfort. Aspirin has heavier side effects including diarrhoea, internal bleeding, black and bloody faeces and for children, risk of Reye’s syndrome is increased along with hives, facial swelling and difficulting breathing as a result of a severe allergic reaction. Paracetamol also shares heavy side effects if taken in excess or against the recommended use include bloody urine or faeces, ulcers, skin rashes, jaundice, unusual bleeding or bruising, or low grade fever with chills (study.com 2016). People who use it long term can form liver damage eventually causing liver failure or liver cirrhosis (Fitzgerald 2011).
Aspirin is more widely used by doctors and pharmacists as it not only helped fever and pain but has anticoagulant and anti inflammatory properties. Aspirin is useful to prevent atrial fibrillation, heart attack or stroke as it has blood thinning effects which reduce the blood from clotting easily within the blood vessel (Shepherd, Petherick, Martin 2019).
In a study (Seymour, R., Hawkesford, J., Sykes, J) comparing the pain relief strength of paracetamol and aspirin with the use of a placebo, it was shown that the aspirin had a much stronger effect on the patients after a period of 22-23 minutes.
Currently, paracetamol is a first-line choice for pain management; those with osteoarthritis, simple headaches, and those with musculoskeletal conditions. With proper use, it is rare for paracetamol to have adverse affects.
Aspirin and paracetamol may have very different histories and development but share similar mechanisms within the body and their corresponding side effects. Although aspirin has many added benefits that paracetamol does not, paracetamol continues to be the most used pain relief within Australian households.
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