Acetylsalicylic acid, known today as aspirin, is also converted into salicylic acid in the body: an enzyme simply cuts off the acetyl group to give salicylic acid. It seems reasonable, therefore, to believe that willow bark tea could act like aspirin, reducing fever, inflammation, and pain. Unlike aspirin, willow bark contains other compounds — flavonoids and polyphenols — that may contribute to alleviating such symptoms. The results were so unambiguously positive for aspirin (and streptokinase, although aspirin was far cheaper) that aspirin use sharply increased worldwide in acute coronary care. Before researching its origins, I believed that willow bark tea was ancient aspirin.