Chewing on the bark of a willow tree was a common practice when dealing with aches or pains in the early stages of medicine. As humankind has become more advanced methods have been developed to isolate the active ingredients in traditional remedies and improve them so the desired effects can be reached quicker, more directly and arguably more safely than before. Significant progress was made in the way of chemistry in the 19th-21st centuries which lead to the emergence of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs. There were two distinct stages in the development of this class of drug after World War 2. The first of these stages was what is now referred to as being the pre-prostaglandin period, which comments on the lack of knowledge about the …show more content…
As the name suggests they are distinguished by the absence of steroids, which separates them from steroids. Steroids also work to reduce inflammation but can potentially induce steroid psychosis, immunosuppression and hypertension. Arguably NSAIDs present far fewer and far less severe side effects than their steroidal counterparts.In the medical world there is controversy which arises out of the concern for the effects on the gastro-intestinal systems. This controversy concisely outlines the benefits of NSAIDs over more powerful steroids. In several case studies done on the subject of these medications and their relationship to the gastrointestinal system, it was found that corticosteroids, a subset of the larger group of steroids, are highly associated to abscess formation. This combined with the strong immunosuppressant nature means that healing times are slowed. This allows for increased infection rates of any perforations within the gastrointestinal system. On the other hand, NSAIDs have only been shown to harm surface epithelial cells and increase colonic permeability. The damage done by corticosteroids is more devastating on the system than the effects caused by the use of