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Natural drug: Our bodies produce the key ingredient of aspirin quite naturally, new research has found.
Credit: Chaval Brasil
Stress defence
Given the role of salicylic acid as a stress hormone in plants (where it works as a trigger to up defences if the plant is in danger), Baxter now plans to investigate if the chemical has a similar role in humans.
Tentative evidence is there - preliminary results show that the chemical may carry out its protective effects by activating the immune system.
Janice Drew, a molecular biologist from the University of Aberdeen in Scotland, who was not involved in the study, called the results so far "intriguing".
However, she stressed that further study will be needed to analyse the salicylic acid produced by the body. It will be of key importance to see if the body's natural chemical in fact has has similar effects to taking an aspirin tablet, she said.
