Your health: Keeping track of meds

Storing medications

Parents and pet owners should always put a little extra thought into how prescriptions and over-the-counter drugs are stored and disposed of.

According to Scripps Howard Syndicate, pediatric researchers at Nationwide Children’s Hospital in Boston reported last fall that 30 percent of acetaminophen found in homes with young children ages 2 to 6 of the homes studied was stored unsafely. And a total of 22 percent of the drugs found in these homes were unsafely stored. Nearly all the homes had at least one expired medication on the shelf.

One of the more dangerous times for kids — and pets — is when people first come into the house and drop shopping and personal bags while taking off their coat or checking phone messages. Pets, especially dogs, will chew through anything that smells meaty or like food.

Other threats can arise in multigenerational households when seniors leave brightly colored — and easy-open — pillbox’s out on tables or counters.

The American Medical Association has launched a safety campaign urging people to give their medicine chests a checkup, making sure that what’s needed is up-to-date and throwing out expired or unneeded products.

New guidelines stress that the best way to dispose of unused medicine is at a pharmacy collection site. If you must throw drugs out in the trash, make them as unpalatable as possible by mixing them with coffee grounds, cooking oil or kitty litter and placing them in a sealed plastic bag. Remove labels from bottles before disposing of them.

Battling the blues

Everyone gets depressed from time to time. However, major depression can make a person feel as though relationships, work, school and other aspects of life are spinning out of control. The Harvard Medical School newsletter points out there also may be feelings of pervasive sadness, a sense of being burdened and a loss of interest in enjoyable activities, which may last for days or even weeks.

Other signs of depression may include:

Ÿ A change in appetite that sometimes leads to weight loss or gain.

Ÿ Insomnia or oversleeping.

Ÿ A slowdown in talking and performing tasks or, conversely, restlessness and an inability to sit still.

Ÿ Loss of energy or feeling tired much of the time.

Ÿ Problems concentrating or making decisions.

Ÿ Feelings of worthlessness or excessive guilt.

Ÿ Thoughts of death or suicide, or suicide plans or attempts.

When dealing with a person struggling with major depression, remind them to take their medications and keep therapy appointments. It’s also important not to ignore comments about suicide and if a person seems suicidal, call his or her doctor or therapist. If neither is available, call a local crisis center or emergency room.