Aspirin
BayerPubChem CID 2244 · 3D model
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Blocks a clotting-related enzyme in platelets so they can't stick together as easily, which lowers the risk of dangerous blood clots.
How it works
Aspirin permanently switches off an enzyme called COX-1 inside platelets, the tiny blood cells that clump together to form clots. Because platelets can't make new copies of this enzyme, a single dose keeps them less sticky for their whole lifespan of about a week to ten days, which is why even a small daily dose can help prevent clots. At higher doses, aspirin also turns down the same kind of enzyme elsewhere in the body, which is what eases pain, fever, and swelling. So depending on the dose, aspirin either mainly thins the blood a little or mainly relieves pain and fever.
What it’s used for
Aspirin is approved for short-term relief of everyday pain — headaches, muscle aches, toothaches, menstrual cramps, cold-related aches and fever, and minor arthritis pain. At a much lower daily dose, and only when a doctor recommends it, it's also used long-term to help prevent heart attacks and strokes in people who already have heart or blood vessel disease. It's also given as a one-time chewed dose during a suspected heart attack to help limit clotting right away.
- Mechanism
- Irreversible COX-1 inhibitor (antiplatelet)
- Drug class
- Small molecule
- Therapeutic area
- Antiplatelet / Analgesic