Italian scientists have tweaked aspirin so it doesn't hurt the stomach.
Researchers from the universities of Turin and Parma have managed to stick a new group of atoms onto the major molecule in aspirin so it no longer attacks the stomach lining, said team leader Alberto Gasco.
The new derivate of acetylsalicylic acid - aspirin's active ingredient - ''has no side effects,'' Gasco told the Journal of Medicinal Chemistry.
Gasco said the new aspirin is not absorbed by stomach acids and is also absorbed into the blood more quickly.
Conventional aspirin is the world's mainstay for headaches and has lately been found to help other conditions such as heart disease, acting as a blood thinner.
However, its aggressive effect on stomach linings can lead to pain and even ulcers.
Even when it is coated, the acetylsalicylic acid finds its way into the blood stream and eventually reaches the stomach, researchers have found.
Gasco said his new compound had so far only been tested on lab rats.
''But if the results are confirmed by further tests, it should represent a safer alternative to old aspirin in very many clinical applications''.
