Hi Bob



 RM> Picky bit - Hippocrates used it (infusion of willow bark) in

 RM> 400 BC, and it was identified and purified in 1899.



 BL>   1893... I've got Encarta too. It's a wonderful brain-substitute.



No got that one. I'm waiting for Britanica to come down to a

reasonable price. I expect to live for several millennia, of course.

The date i quoted was from the NS article.





 BL> BTW, aspirin is no longer the preferred anti-inflammatory for

 BL> arthritis. Diclofenac is flavour of the month.



Did they tell you any reason? (just curious)







 RM> One of the patches mentions nitroglycerine - in the blood, it

 RM> releases nitric oxide, which can dilate blood vessels, and is

 RM> used to reduce the pain of angina.



 BL>   Nitroglycerine does more than that. It's basically a muscle-relaxant.



 RM> NO can also help protect the tummy against ulcers, so work is

 RM> being done on slow release NO drugs.



 BL>   I'm on one of those slow-release NO drugs now (imdur) but the

 BL> Australian work on stomach bacteria has made peptic ulcers a dead

 BL> issue.



More info? "Dead issue" as in "they're easily cured"? If the

stomach's mucous lining gets thin, then stomach acid will

cheerfully do the damage, with or without the specialist bugs.



Cheers



--- PPoint 1.88