Salicylic acid the product with sulfuric acid gives salicylic acid: It can also be prepared by the hydrolysis of aspirin (acetylsalicylic acid) or methyl salicylate (oil of wintergreen) with a strong acid or base. Hippocrates, Galen, Pliny the Elder and others knew that willow bark could ease pain and reduce fevers. It was used in Europe and China to treat these conditions. This remedy is mentioned in texts from ancient Egypt, Sumer and Assyria. The Cherokee and other Native Americans used an infusion of the bark for fever and other medicinal purposes. In 2014, archaeologists identified traces of salicylic acid on 7th
Aristolochic acid upper urinary tract cancer patients from Taiwan. The carcinogenic effect is the most potent found thus far, exceeding the amount of mutations in smoking-induced lung cancer and UV-exposed melanoma. Exposure to aristolochic acid may also cause certain types of liver cancer. Aristolochic acid Aristolochic acids () are a family of carcinogenic, mutagenic, and nephrotoxic phytochemicals commonly found in the flowering plant family Aristolochiaceae (birthworts). Aristolochic acid (AA) I is the most abundant one. The family Aristolochiaceae includes the genera "Aristolochia" and "Asarum" (wild ginger), which are commonly used in Chinese herbal medicine. Although these compounds are widely associated with kidney