Adams and his colleagues began taking the compound, ibuprofen, when they got headaches. ”We knew it was analgesic, because we were taking it well before it got on the market,” he says.

analgesic (adj) : capable of relieving pain [syn: analgetic, anodyne] (n) : a medicine used in to relieve pain [syn: anodyne, painkiller, pain pill] – source: The Guardian Weekend 26.4.2003, p. 20