填空题 We are all familiar with aspirin. It is a common household remedy which 1 . But few people are aware of just how fascinating the subject of aspirin actually is.
The 2 of this wonderful drug is found in several plants, and five thousand years ago physicians 3 were using an extract from the bark of the willow as a cure for 4 . But it was to be many centuries before the scientific basis of this medication was understood.
Then, in 5 , an Englishman, Edward Stone, accidentally rediscovered the medicinal properties of 6 , although he mistakenly attributed its efficacy to its bitter taste and 7 another drug, quinine. Later on, in 1829, a pharmacist 8 , salicylic acid. Unfortunately, the chemical has several undesirable side effects, the most serious of which is that it can 9 .
However, at 10 , a chemist working for Friedrich Bayer, 11 , found a way of combining salicylic acid with an acetyl group. A few years later, Bayer 12 , and for the next seventy years it was regarded as 13 . Curiously, during all that time, hardly any research was done into the way aspirin works.
Then, 14 , groundbreaking findings were published that showed how aspirin slows down swelling and the coagulation of the blood. This means it also dramatically 15 . As you can imagine, this was exciting news. Further research showed that 16 at risk from a heart attack will not have one if they take aspirin regularly. Although that sounds too good to be true, most doctors now accept that aspirin really does 17 . More controversially, some scientists believe that nearly everyone 18 would benefit from taking aspirin regularly as a preventative measure. Now it seems that the active ingredients of aspirin can also be found in many 19 , and regular consumption of such foods might be 20 a day.