ROME, Mar 17, 2008 (UPI via COMTEX) -- Italian researchers have altered the
atomic makeup of aspirin to make it less harsh on users' stomach linings,
experts said.
Scientists from Turin and Parma Universities added atoms onto the aspirin's main
molecule, preventing the common headache drug from destroying the lining of the
stomach, head researcher Alberto Gasco said.
Aspirin's destructive impact on stomach tissue has been found to cause ulcers
and irritation in its users because of the way it is absorbed into the
bloodstream, ANSA reported Monday.
The new form medicine "has no side effects," Gasco said in the Journal of
Medicinal Chemistry.
The new aspirin has only gone through trials involving rats, Gasco said.
''But if the results are confirmed by further tests, it should represent a safer
alternative to old aspirin in very many clinical applications''.
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Copyright 2008 by United Press International