Prostaglandin was first isolated from seminal fluid in 1935 by the Swedish physiologistUlf von Euler, • Ulf Svante von Euler (7 February 1905 – 9 March 1983) was a Swedish physiologist and pharmacologist. He won a Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1970 for his work on neurotransmitters.
The Dutch scientist Antonie van Leeuwenhoek first described the microscopic appearance of urate crystals in 1679
In 1897 Felix Hoffmann created a synthetically altered version of salicin (in his case derived from the Spiraea plant), which caused less digestive upset than pure salicylic acid. The new drug, formally Acetylsalicylic acid, was named Aspirin by Hoffmann's employer Bayer AG. Felix Hoffmann
Felix Hoffmann (January 21, 1868 – February 8, 1946) was a Germanchemist, who first synthesized medically useful forms of heroin andaspirin. He was born in Ludwigsburg and studied Chemistry in Munich. In 1894, he joined the Bayer pharmaceutical research facility inElberfeld. He is best known for having synthesized acetylsalicylic acid (ASA) on August 10, 1897, supposedly for the first time in a stable form usable for medical applications. Bayer marketed this substance as Aspirin. However, this has been disputed. In 1949, Arthur Eichengrün published a paper in which he claimed to have planned and directed the synthesis of Aspirin along with the synthesis of several related compounds. He also claimed to be responsible for Aspirin's initial surreptitious clinical testing. Finally, he claimed that Hoffmann's role was restricted to the initial lab synthesis using his (Eichengrün's) process and nothing more. The Eichengrün version was ignored by historians and chemists until 1999, when Walter Sneader of the Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences at the University of Strathclyde in Glasgow re-examined the case and came to the conclusion that indeed Eichengrün's account was convincing and correct and that Eichengrün deserved credit for the invention of Aspirin. Bayer promptly denied this theory in a press release, claiming that the invention of Aspirin was due to Hoffmann. As of 2004, the controversy is still open: while Sneader's version has been widely reported, there are no independent second sources supporting either version. Both substances had been synthesized earlier, but not in forms that could be used for medication. ASA had first been synthesized byFrenchmanCharles Frédéric Gerhardt in 1853, and diacetylmorphine (that is, heroin) by C.R. Alder Wright, a British chemist in 1873. Following the synthesis of aspirin, Hoffmann changed to the pharmaceutical marketing department, where he stayed until his retirement in 1928. In 2002, he was inducted into the US National Inventors Hall of Fame.
Gout (also known as podagra when it involves the big toe) is a medical condition usually characterized by recurrent attacks of acuteinflammatory arthritis—a red, tender, hot, swollen joint. The metatarsal-phalangeal joint at the base of the big toe is the most commonly affected, in around half of all cases. However, it may also present as tophi, kidney stones, or urate nephropathy. It is caused by elevated levels of uric acid in the blood which crystallize and are deposited in joints, tendons, and surrounding tissues. Diagnosis is confirmed clinically by the visualization of the characteristic crystals in joint fluid. Treatment with nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), steroids, or colchicine improves symptoms. Once the acute attack has subsided, levels of uric acid are usually lowered via lifestyle changes, and in those with frequent attacks allopurinol or probenicid provide long-term prevention. Affecting around 1–2% of the Western population at some point in their lives, gout has increased in frequency in recent decades. This is believed to be due to increasing risk factors in the population, such as metabolic syndrome, longer life expectancy, and changes in diet. Gout was historically known as "the disease of kings" or "rich man's disease". "rich man's disease"