tjs@cbdkc1.UUCP ( Tom Stanions) (02/28/85)
I hear on the news today that giving aspirin to a child who has the
cold or a flu could result in the child getting reise (sp) syndrom.
The actual news containing part was about whether a warning label
should be put on bottles of aspirin or not, the health of the children
did not seem to be news worth talking about. With all the discussion
about people giving advice about non-proven forms of treatment possibly
causing harm to people, how many people are harmmed each day by proven
forms of medicine, like aspirin in this case.
As an aside, willow bark works like aspirin, it is mild on the stomach
and it is natural. I use it occationally and it works very well (I
never use aspirin). Has your doctor ever recommended willow bark for
a headache?
{allegra|ihnp4}!cbdkc1!tjsmlf@panda.UUCP (Matt L. Fichtenbaum) (03/01/85)
>I hear on the news today that giving aspirin to a child who has the >cold or a flu could result in the child getting reise (sp) syndrom. >...how many people are harmmed each day by proven >forms of medicine, like aspirin in this case. >As an aside, willow bark works like aspirin, it is mild on the stomach >and it is natural. Reye's syndrome (I've heard it pronounced "rye") is a serious, potentially fatal disease/inflammation of the brain. It *appears* that it is more likely to occur in a child who has chicken pox or, I think, the flu, and that giving a child aspirin for these diseases increases the Reye's risk. While the exact cause of Reye's is not yet known, there's enough indication about the aspirin risk to justify printing a warning label. Our pediatrician (and other references) suggest using something like Tylenol in place of aspirin in children. I miss the point with willow bark. It may contain salicylates that give it its anti-inflammatory effect; in that case it's not significantly different from aspirin. And I don't see what its being "natural" has to do with anything. Many common prescription drugs are derived from things that occur in nature; also, many things that occur in nature are demonstrably bad for humans - examples are curare, poison ivy, lions [:-)]. -- Matt Fichtenbaum "Our job is to rescue fires, not put out your cat."
jcp@osiris.UUCP (Jody Patilla) (03/02/85)
> As an aside, willow bark works like aspirin, it is mild on the stomach > and it is natural. I use it occationally and it works very well (I > never use aspirin). Has your doctor ever recommended willow bark for > a headache? > Willow bark (*white* willow bark, that is) is high in salicin, one of the base compounds from which aspirin (acetylsalicylic acid) is derived. In fact, the name salicin comes from the family name of willows, Salix. A willow bark infusion has been used since the ancient Greeks for treatment of pain. Other plant sources of salicin and methylsalicylate include prickly ash bark, wintergreen, and spirea. Now, about Reye's syndrome. This is very often fatal if not recognised and treated immediately. Because of the very close relationship between aspirin and the above-mentioned botanicals, I would *not* give my kid any of them. The risk is simply too great. If you are really interested in the medicinal applications of plants, I highly recommend getting a copy of Mrs. Grieve's "A Modern Herbal" from Dover Books. It lists all the important chemical constituents of several hundred plants common to Europe and North America. -- jcpatilla "'Get stuffed !', the Harlequin replied ..."
carter@gatech.UUCP (Carter Bullard) (03/03/85)
> As an aside, willow bark works like aspirin, it is mild on the stomach > and it is natural. I use it occationally and it works very well (I > never use aspirin). Has your doctor ever recommended willow bark for > a headache? > > {allegra|ihnp4}!cbdkc1!tjs Actually, willow bark contains Salicylin, which is converted to salicylic acid in the liver. Commercial aspirin is acetyl salicylic acid, which is degraded to salicylic acid in the stomach. In effect, everytime your doctor, mother, priest or local witch doctor prescribes aspirin, they are actually prescribing willow bark. The history of the discovery of aspirin-like compounds is actually quite fascinating. The pharmacologic philosophy that was employed to discovery a natural substance for the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis was that 'the cure for an illness would be found in close proximity to the cause of the disorder.' So it was thought that the cure for rheumatism would be found in damp, cool boggy areas, since, at that time, it was thought that this type of environment was the cause of the disorder. Lo and behold, the willow tree, which happens to have an an uncanny habit of growing in swappy bogs, just happened to be the largest producer of salicylin in the free world, which in the early 1800's quickly replaced the popular dietary therapy, which was completely ineffective. -- Carter Bullard ICS, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta GA 30332 CSNet:Carter @ Gatech ARPA:Carter.Gatech @ CSNet-relay.arpa uucp:...!{akgua,allegra,amd,ihnp4,hplabs,seismo,ut-ngp}!gatech!carter
friesen@psivax.UUCP (Stanley Friesen) (03/04/85)
In article <887@cbdkc1.UUCP> tjs@cbdkc1.UUCP ( Tom Stanions) writes: > >As an aside, willow bark works like aspirin, it is mild on the stomach >and it is natural. I use it occationally and it works very well (I >never use aspirin). Has your doctor ever recommended willow bark for >a headache? > But do you know *why* willow bark works, it works because it contains (surprise!) *aspirin*. Yes indeed, chewing willow bark is *almost* the same as taking an aspirin tablet. The main difference is that with the tablet you know what dose you are getting, with willow bark you don't. This is quite a normal sort of thing, a std medication also being found in nature(e.g also Pennicilin). -- Sarima (Stanley Friesen) {trwrb|allegra|cbosgd|hplabs|ihnp4|aero!uscvax!akgua}!sdcrdcf!psivax!friesen or {ttdica|quad1|bellcore|scgvaxd}!psivax!friesen