To know the history of Antacids we have to go 3500 years before christ, to the time of the Sumerians. Sumerians didn’t just discover antacids overnight. It took them years of trial and error to find an antacid to relieve the stomach pain of their patients. The Sumerians discovered that milk and peppermint helped solve their patient's stomach pain. Then they realized that adding baking soda (sodium bicarbonate) to the milk and peppermint had a better effect. 5,000 years after the Sumerians, in the 1800’s a candlemaker in Connecticut added magnesia to the Sumerians baking soda solution. This gave a way better relief to the patients. Now it is known as milk and magnesia. In 1928 James Howe invented the world’s first chewable antacid, and he called the brand Tums. He created Tums using sugar and calcium carbonate. He invented this antacid for his wife’s indigestion. About the same time Rolaids was invented by Irvine W. Grote. Rolaids consists of calcium carbonate and magnesium hydroxide.
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