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August 10 Marks 110th Anniversary of the Discovery of Aspirin
ASPIRIN NAMED 8TH WORLD WONDER BY MAJORITY OF AMERICANS
Bayer To Stock First-Aid Kits Of Relief Organizations to Mark 110th Anniversary
MORRISTOWN, N.J., August 8, 2007 – The Roman Coliseum, the Taj Mahal – and aspirin? That’s right! According to a new national survey, 74 percent of Americans believe that aspirin should take its place alongside the other Wonders of the World. It’s no wonder, of course: Over the last 110 years, the trusted little pill has made “monumental” contributions to mankind, providing significant patient health benefits such as heart attack and recurrent stroke prevention, as well as relief from everyday aches and pains. And worldwide, researchers continue to explore the role aspirin may have in the prevention of diseases such as colon cancer and treatment of Alzheimer’s disease.
To celebrate the 110th anniversary of the discovery of aspirin Bayer HealthCare will donate 110,000 bottles of aspirin to three relief organizations – AmeriCares, Project C.U.R.E., and Direct Relief – when consumers visit www.The8thWorldWonder.com and send an e-card stating why aspirin is the 8th world wonder.
“The discovery of aspirin deserves to be a celebrated moment in time,” says Dr. Michael Roizen, co-founder of RealAge.com, author of The Real Age Makeover: Taking Years Off Your Looks and Adding Them to Your Life, coauthor of the “YOU” series of health books including two #1 New York Times bestsellers, which are printed in more than six countries, and Chief Wellness Officer, and Chair of the Division of Anesthesiology, Critical Care Medicine, and Pain Management at the Cleveland Clinic. “Aspirin is one of the most studied drugs in the world. It has been shown to have significant benefits to typical Americans over the last 10 years, and it continues to show great promise in other areas, such as colon cancer, cognitive/neurological disease and deep vein thrombosis (DVT), pushing it to the forefront of emerging science.”
With an estimated 100 billion tablets (35,000 tons) of aspirin consumed annually, aspirin has truly become a mainstay of American health. In fact, twice as many people would choose to live without a computer over living without aspirin.
“One of the key ways to keep your 'RealAge' young is by doing things that prevent the 'aging' of your arteries,” explains Dr. Roizen. “Studies are being done on aspirin and other drugs to reduce the artery inflammation that often comes with age, in a sense helping to keep arteries 'younger.' And a small dose of aspirin taken daily under the care of a doctor could prove beneficial to your cardiovascular system as a whole. It is truly one of the most economical yet effective drugs available today and all of its true potential still hasn’t been discovered.”
Aspirin’s Wonders
“Take two aspirin and call me in the morning” has long been a hallmark of American healthcare. In recent years, aspirin was inducted — joining the first stethoscope and the artificial heart — into the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of American History. Aspirin has also played a role in U.S. history. On July 12, 1969, aspirin was in the first-aid kit aboard the Apollo 11 space capsule as the astronauts took their famous “giant leap for mankind.” Aspirin was also close at hand during the 1993 Mount Everest expedition with climbers depending upon aspirin to provide relief from headaches at high altitudes.
Aspirin was initially developed in 1897 as a relief for arthritis. Today, aspirin is relied upon by millions for the treatment of pain, fever and, under a doctor’s care, inflammation, and its role has expanded to include the prevention of heart attack and recurrent stroke. Since its cardiovascular disease fighting properties were first discovered, aspirin regimens have saved thousands of lives. During the past two decades, physicians have placed more than 25 million Americans on aspirin therapy for prevention of heart attack, a move that Dr. Roizen estimates could potentially prevent tens of thousands of heart attacks each year. Most recently, it has been estimated that if physicians advised all high-risk adults to start regular aspirin therapy, more than 80,000 lives could be saved each year.
About the Wonders Survey
Opinion Research Corporation conducted a survey on current wonders from March 30, 2007 through April 2, 2007 among 1,038 American consumers via telephone. The margin of error is +/- 3%.
About Bayer Consumer Care
The Consumer Care Division of Bayer HealthCare LLC, is headquartered in Morristown, N.J. Bayer’s Consumer Care Division is among the largest marketers of over-the-counter medications and nutritional supplements in the world. Some of the most trusted and recognizable brands in the world today come from the Bayer portfolio of products. These include Bayer® Aspirin, Aleve®, Alka-Seltzer Plus®, Bactine®, RID®, Phillips’® Milk of Magnesia, Midol®, Alka-Seltzer®, One-A-Day® and Flintstones™ vitamins.
Bayer HealthCare, a subsidiary of Bayer AG, is one of the world’s leading, innovative companies in the health care and medical products industry based in Leverkusen/Germany. In 2006, the Bayer HealthCare subgroup generated sales amounting to some 11.7 billion Euro. The company combines the global activities of the divisions Animal Health, Consumer Care, Diabetes Care and Pharmaceuticals. Since January 1, 2006 the new Pharmaceutical Division consists of the former Biological Products and Pharmaceutical Division and now comprises three business units: Hematology/Cardiology, Oncology and Primary Care. Bayer HealthCare’s aim is to discover and manufacture innovative products that will improve human and animal health worldwide. The products enhance well-being and quality of life by diagnosing, preventing and treating diseases.
About Michael F. Roizen, MD
Co-founder, RealAge, Inc; RealAge.com Medical Expert; Chairman of RealAge Scientific Advisory Board Michael F. Roizen, MD, is the creator of the RealAge Test and he is the author of RealAge: Are You as Young as You Can Be? and coauthor, with Mehmet C. Oz, MD, of YOU: The Owner’s Manual and YOU: On A Diet, all New York Times #1 best-sellers. He serves as Chief Wellness Officer of the Cleveland Clinic, and chair of the Division of Anesthesiology, Critical Care Medicine and Comprehensive Pain Management at the Cleveland Clinic. He is certified by the American Board of Internal Medicine and by the American Board of Anesthesiology. Dr. Roizen is 61 calendar years old, but his RealAge is 42. Contact: Suzanne Lyons Anne Coiley # # #
Ketchum for Bayer HealthCare
(646) 935-3955
Suzanne.Lyons@ketchum.com
Bayer HealthCare
Consumer Care Division
Global Communications
(866) 683-1126
anne.coiley.b@bayer.com
©2007 For more information contact: (203) 846-2811 or e-mail us.