episode_0131

Episode 131. Fall Academic Conference (3)

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Well, isn’t life like a blessing or a curse?

I failed to deliver the message I wanted, but I succeeded in selling the drug.

There are only a few healers in the empire who set health policies, but there are no healers who do not use medicine, so it is natural that their interest is focused on that.

Now let’s begin the second presentation.

The chaotic atmosphere of the conference was starting to settle down a bit. To be honest, isn’t it time to give up our obsession with penicillin? Are there still 200 years left before that happens?

“That’s it. Next is a much simpler topic. There’s a new drug. It’s a kind of drug extracted from willow wood.”

This time, everyone’s attention was focused on me.

“According to a review of past literature, willow wood is effective for treating symptoms such as fever and pain, but it has severe side effects, so people do not use it often.”

It was one of the folk remedies, or traditional treatments. For various reasons, the therapeutic effect of the willow wood itself was not great.

“Actually, there’s nothing too special. Since the willow wood itself has its own effects, I just experimented with some substances to adjust the medicinal properties of the willow.”

effect.

“Yes. The substance we made is aspirin. It’s a medicine made from willow tree extract. It’s currently being tested on animals and is still being confirmed. It seems safe.”

This time, Benedict, who seemed to have turned from an anti-fan to a fan, stood up.

“What is the process of making medicine?”

“Ah. That’s it.”

I thought about it for a while.

Medieval medicine. There are many healers who help patients, but there are also many who perform surgeries that are worse than not performing them at all.

No wonder Hippocrates established the first rule as, “Please, don’t do anything weird in the name of treatment.”

If I could give them one more thing to do, wouldn’t it at least reduce the number of patients getting hurt by ridiculous treatments? I thought about how to explain it.

“Mix the willow extract and purified acetic acid, add sulfuric acid as a catalyst, and harden. Sulfuric acid is not an ingredient, but only helps the reaction to occur quickly, so you only need to add a small amount.”

“What is the specific principle?”

It’s a complicated question.

****

Aspirin works like this: It interferes with the transmission of inflammation and pain.

The aspirin molecule irreversibly inhibits one of the enzymes in the cell, thus blocking the signal transduction system. The name of the enzyme that is inhibited is a bit long, but I remember it. It is usually called COX.

Oh, that one. Cyclooxygenase is involved in a lot of signaling systems within cells. It’s involved in the synthesis of lipid substances called prostaglandins, but that’s not really the point.

anyway.

Aspirin also blocks the transmission of inflammation and pain, and platelets that clump together in the blood. The latter can be helpful or dangerous.

“To put it simply, the substance extracted from willow wood blocks the signal transmission system that creates inflammation in the body. That’s why this medicine reduces pain and fever.”

“What were the original side effects?”

“Abdominal pain was the most common side effect.”

In fact, aspirin itself can cause stomachache as a side effect, but aspirin is definitely better than salicylic acid.

This time there were a lot of people who wanted to ask questions.

Just now, there was a fuss about a new drug. If a new painkiller or fever reducer that we use every day were invented, of course we would be happy.

Professor Kropelter raised his hand.

“Is this a medicine that cures the disease? How certain is the pain relief effect of this medicine?”

“It is not a medicine that cures the disease. As you know, inflammation and fever are also the process of the human body fighting. Reducing inflammation and fever does not cure the disease.”

“Yes. It doesn’t cure diseases, right?”

I used to think that Professor Kropelter hated me. Now that I think about it, I think he just has a weird and pessimistic personality.

It can be a bit frustrating at times, but that strange personality can also be a strength in research. That’s why there are so many professors with strange personalities.

“That’s a sharp point. We are healers, so the reason patients come to the hospital is because of symptoms, but we must remember that alleviating symptoms does not necessarily mean that the disease will be cured.”

A representative example is steroid preparations.

Steroid anti-inflammatory drugs immediately stop fever and inflammation. So they are often used for allergies, but they can never be used in patients with bacterial infections.

Because using steroid anti-inflammatory drugs in a situation where there is a bacterial infection can cause the infection to spread and have disastrous effects several days later.

Aspirin, on the other hand, is not to that extent.

Aspirin should not be used in patients with bleeding, but it is not contraindicated in those with infections. The anti-inflammatory effect is not as strong.

“But. Since aspirin’s mechanism of action is to reduce inflammation while also relieving pain itself, the effect is certain. You can think of the analgesic effect as more effective.”

The presentation continued. Istina tilted her head next to me, as if she was thinking about something.

Aspirin is a very old drug and has many effects. The prostaglandins that aspirin inhibits synthesis are involved in many signaling processes in the body.

After a while.

This time, one of the priests of the temple stood up in the auditorium. He was about to say something.

“I know it’s a new drug, but does it have any advantages over other painkillers like opium? Or is it just the price that’s different?”

A question I discussed with Violet and her group a few days ago. How is this drug different from opium?

The priests stared at me.

“First of all. Don’t you know the dangers of opium? Compared to opium, this drug has much less danger of addiction, etc. ”

Come to think of it, the biggest users of opium in the empire are the temple healers.

Of course, the priests value opium because it can relieve the pain of patients. Ironic, if ironic.

“What is the effect?”

“If the patient’s symptoms include inflammation or fever, aspirin may help. It would be difficult to beat opium in terms of pain relief.”

I answered simply. The priests murmured, then turned their heads toward me again.

“How did you know?”

“Willow wood itself has been used as a medicine since ancient times. This time, we were just considering a way to eliminate its side effects.”

“Lastly, one more thing. I heard that the penicillin you made shouldn’t be boiled or acidified, but why is it okay to boil aspirin? Is there a reason?”

I thought about it for a while.

It was the same question that Istina had asked herself, and she couldn’t answer properly at the time either. She just…

“To put it simply, penicillin is a much more complex substance than aspirin, and this new drug is simpler than that, so its structure will not be destroyed even if boiled.”

The priests discussed it among themselves again and scratched their heads, as if they didn’t understand. Well, this wasn’t a proper explanation.

To provide scientific proof, you would need to be able to explain how you calculated the molecular weight of penicillin and how you calculated the molecular weight of aspirin.

I doubt it’s possible.

“So. Why?”

We need something that is intuitively understandable. Why not explain it by comparing it to something that priests would like?

Like a child. There must be some toys that priests would like. Oh, I remembered.

Don’t you like opium?

“There is a similar case with opium. Doesn’t opium have a similar effect when boiled or burned? This painkiller is similar.”

“Ah. I understand.”

As expected, I understood it right away.

I looked around the auditorium again.

There were some murmurs and questions around, but there wasn’t as explosive a reaction as before. Fortunately.

“Yes. The method of making aspirin has been disclosed in detail in papers and books, so please purchase it or make it yourself and experiment.”

end.

Because we can’t stand there and take questions endlessly. The presentation was over, and we left the conference hall, leaving behind a standing ovation from the auditorium.

****

It’s been a very long day.

Maybe it was because I had presented two papers. I was sitting next to Mint. Mint was sitting with her legs crossed, sipping black tea.

“How was the conference?”

“That’s right.”

“I listened for a few minutes and left.”

“Oh, is that so?”

“I heard so much yelling in the auditorium that I thought there was a fight going on, so I went in. But it wasn’t. It wasn’t a fight, right?”

I nodded.

“It is originally a place for fighting. A medical society is not a peaceful place. It is an arena where people fight with their beliefs and lives on the line.”

“Umm… … . I don’t think I need to tell you again that only the teacher thinks that way.”

Mint looked at me. As if she couldn’t stand it anymore, she pushed me away and hugged me tightly.

I just stayed still. The princess kept planting her lips on my face.

“Princess. Suddenly-”

I couldn’t finish speaking. Before I could, Mint kissed me, making me speechless.