How Did Dynamite Become Heart Medicine? Why Nitroglycerin Treats Angina
In short: Dynamite itself never became a drug. Its explosive ingredient, nitroglycerin, turned out to widen blood vessels — an effect first noticed in Alfred Nobel's own factory workers — and from 1879 it was prescribed for angina. The same molecule, at a vastly smaller dose and in a different context, went from blasting rock to saving hearts. How can an explosive and a heart drug be the same substance? Nitroglycerin was first synthesized in 1847 by the Italian chemist Ascanio Sobrero. The liquid was so unstable that handling it was perilous. In the 1860s Nobel mixed it with diatomaceous earth to create a far more manageable solid explosive: dynamite. Then, in Nobel's factories, something strange was reported. Dynamite Angina medicine Key substance Nitroglycerin Nitroglycerin Purpose Blasting, construction, mining Widening blood vessels, relieving chest pain Difference Dose and context — bulk explosive vs a tiny medical dose What did the factory workers discover?...