Tips To Use Medicines Safely

At this article you get free tips about how to take medicines safely. There are a lot of persons which are seriously harmed because of taking wrong medicines. This guide would help you learn how to use medicines safely.

You can get answers to many common questions like as:

When exactly should I take my medicine?
Is it safe to take my vitamins when I am taking a prescription medicine?
Now that I feel better, can I stop taking my medicine?

Medicine is prescribed to help you. But it can hurt you if you take too much or mix medicines that don't go together. Many people are harmed each year, some seriously, because of taking the wrong medicine or not taking the right medicines correctly.

Your Health Care Team
You can help get the best results by being a partner with your health care team.

Your health care team includes:

Doctors, physician assistants, nurse practitioners, or other professionals who prescribe your medicine for you or are in charge of your care.
Nurses who help with your care at home, a doctor's office, or a hospital.
Pharmacists who fill your prescription and are available to answer questions about your medicines.

Four Ways To Play It Safe With Medicines

1. Give Your Health Care Team Important Information

Be a partner with your health care team. Tell them about:

All the medicines, vitamins, herbals, and dietary supplements you're already taking. This includes:

- Prescription medicines.
- Medicines you can buy without a prescription, such as aspirin, antacids, laxatives, and cough medicine.
- Vitamins and dietary supplements, such as St. John's Wort or gingko biloba.

Also be sure to tell your health care team:

If you have medicine allergies or if you have had problems when taking a medicine before.
About any other doctors or health care professionals who have prescribed medicine for you or suggested that you take a vitamin or herbal supplement.
If you are pregnant, may get pregnant, or are nursing a baby.
About any other illness or medical condition you have, like diabetes or high blood pressure.
If cost is a concern, there may be another medicine that costs less and will work the same.

2. Get the Facts About Your Medicine

Be Informed
Ask questions about every new prescription medicine. Get the answers you need from your health care team before you take your medicine.

Read the Prescription
If your doctor writes your prescription by hand, make sure you can read it. If you can't read your doctor's handwriting, your pharmacist might not be able to either. If your doctor submits your prescription to the pharmacy electronically, ask for a copy of the prescription.

Know What Your Medicine Is For
Ask your doctor to write down on the prescription what the medicine is used for...not just "take once a day" but "take once a day for high blood pressure."

Ask Questions
If you have other questions or concerns:

Talk to your doctor or pharmacist.
Write questions down ahead of time and bring them to your appointment.
By taking the time to ask questions now, you may be preventing problems later.

Tips!
Write your questions down ahead of time. Keep a list of questions you want to ask your health care team. Take the list with you to your appointment.
Take notes when you get information from your health care team.
Bring a friend or family member with you when you visit the doctor. Talking over what to do with someone you trust can help you make better decisions.
Try to use the same pharmacy to buy all of your medicines so your prescription records will all be in one place.
Read and save the patient information that comes with your medicine. It's often stapled to the bag from the pharmacy.
Keep a list of all the medicines, vitamins, and dietary supplements you take. Be sure to add new medicines to the list when you start taking something new or when you change your dose. Show the list to your doctor and pharmacist.
Make a copy of your list. Keep one copy and give the other to a friend or loved one.

3. Stay With Your Treatment Plan

Now that you have the right medicine, you'll want to carry out the treatment plan. But that's not always easy. The medicines may cause side effects. Or you may feel better and want to stop before finishing your medicines.

Take all the antibiotics you were prescribed. If you are taking an antibiotic to fight an infection, it is very important to take all of your medicine for as many days as your doctor prescribed, even if you feel better.
Ask your doctor if your prescription needs to be refilled. If you are taking medicine for high blood pressure or to lower your cholesterol, you may be using your medicine for a long time.
If you are having side effects or other concerns, tell your doctor. You may be able to take a different amount or type of medicine.
Your medicine was prescribed only for you. Never give your prescription medicine to somebody else or take prescription medicine that wasn't prescribed for you, even if you have the same medical condition.
Ask whether you need blood tests, x-rays, or other lab tests to find out if the medicine is working, to find out if it's causing any problems, and to see if you need a different medicine. Ask your doctor to tell you what the tests showed.

What Products Can Help Me Keep Track of My Medicines?

Many products can help remind you to take your medicine on time and keep track of the doses you take. There are containers you can fill with your pills for each day of the week, calendars to check off, and even products that fit on top of a pill bottle. Ask your pharmacist for help finding the right product for you.

Tips!
You can get help:

- At work, there may be a nurse on site.
- At school, a school nurse may be able to help your child take medicines on time and safely.
- At home, a visiting nurse may be able to help you.
- Friends and Family
- Friends and family can help by:

Going with you to the doctor. Ask them to take notes about your medicines and other parts of your treatment plan.
Picking up your medicine at the pharmacy. Have them show the pharmacist your list of medicines, vitamins, and supplements. They should ask, "Will this new medicine work safely with the other medicines?"
Calling regularly to remind you to take your medicine on time. If you are having any problems, let them know.

Keeping a record of what medicine you take so you won't take it twice.

4. Keep a Record of Your Medicines

Keep track of your medicines, vitamins, and other dietary supplements.

For More Information
To learn about specific medicines, go to "MEDLINEplus" If you do not have Internet access, ask your local librarian for help.

The checklist, Women and Medicines: What You Need to Know, has information on how medicines can affect women's bodies and what women can do for safe and effective medicine use.

This guide is developed by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) and the National Council on Patient Information and Education (NCPIE).

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20 tips-Learn how to keep your hair healthy?

Good nutrition is essential for healthy hair growth, as it is important for whole body.

But what are the other factors which play an important role in keeping your hair healthy?

These are some facts about hair, and at the part of the article would provide you with 20 tips which guide you to keep your hair healthy.

Some facts about hair:

There are, initially, approximately 100,000 hairs on our head. Each grows independently of the others, in three stages: 90 percent in the 'growth' stage, lasting as long as four-to-five years; 10 percent in the 'resting' stage, lasting several months--until the hair falls out because of new growth underneath--and the 'new' stage, when increased cellular activity in the hair follicles produces new hairs.

Normally, we lose about 50 hairs each day, shampooing, brushing or meditating silently. Abnormal hair loss can result from common problems involving both hormone levels and mineral uptake; from metabolic disorders or problems in the scalp and hair shafts, as well as from psychological imbalances. Fortunately, women rarely suffer the equivalent of male-pattern baldness, and even then, it's usually mild and later in life.

In men, male-pattern baldness can begin as early as the mid-teens. Heredity, androgen hormones and aging are the known culprits, although it's not yet known precisely how androgenic hormones affect hair follicles in producing hair loss. Nevertheless, the majority of males will be partly or fully bald by age 60.

Temporary hair loss (telogen effluvium) or area baldness (alopecia areata) can result from stopping the use of birth-control pills, the hormonal changes of pregnancy and its aftermath, severe emotional stress, surgery or acute illness. However, by the time you notice it's happening--one-to-three months after the cause--it's already being corrected, precluding the necessity for treatment.

Diffuse thinning can also result from metabolic imbalances or disorders, such as large doses of vitamin A, certain medications (including chemotherapy for cancer), diabetes, anemia or iron deficiency through blood loss, rapid weight loss through unskillful diets, and from malnutrition or starvation. Likewise, pulling hair too tightly in braids or pony tails; constantly wearing very tight wigs or hats, or hair-straightening regimens and permanents, applied too often or improperly, can result in hair breaking easily, as well as diffuse thinning. Again, hair ususally grows back once the underlying problem is corrected.

Ven. Rechung Rinpoche, in his book, Tibetan Medicine, concludes: "Symptoms of a deficiency of the bones: one's teeth and hair fall out." Likewise, the former personal physician to the Dalai Lama, Dr. Yeshi Dondon, in The Secret Oral Teachings On the Eight Branches of the Science of Healing, states that: "Frequent bathing gives greater virility, bodily heat, strength, long life and lively complexion, and dispels itching due to perspiration, lassitude, thirst and overheating of the body." Nevertheless, he adds: "Washing the head with warm water causes a loss of hair and visual strength."

20 tips:

1- Avoid overconsumption of salt (most vegetables have their own natural sodium) and sugar; skip them entirely, if possible.

2- Same with alcohol and tobacco, also contributing causes of hair loss and dandruff.

3- Avoid excessive shampooing--once daily is usually sufficient, using a mild, unmedicated, nonalkaline shampoo (organic ingredients, whenever possible). All bathing or showering strips from your skin the oil which traps water and keeps your skin moist, so avoid harsh soaps, especially those containing deodorant. Also avoid astringents, unless you have oily skin, in which case you can wash/shampoo more often. Those with 'dry' hair may follow shampoos with acid rinses or with oil-based conditioners (again, using organic ingredients whenever possible).

4- Try headstands--or any position lowering your head below your body--several times daily (15 minutes each time).

5- Massage your scalp by hand, or with an electric vibrator.

6- Avoid excessive mental labor, as well as mental stress, both of which reduce scalp circulation by constricting blood vessels. Meditation and mental visualization and relaxation techniques are helpful.

7- Because minerals are even more important to healthy hair than proteins, include both in your diet. Nutritional deficiencies can cause hair loss, as well as premature graying. In some cases, a copper deficiency may cause premature graying. Try one 2-mg. capsule daily of copper from chelated copper gluconate. Overall, eat a balanced, high-quality diet (organic, whenever possible), and/or supplement with good multi-vitamin, multi-mineral, trace-element and amino acid formulas.

8- Just as moderate exercise increases bone density and can improve hearing, it also improves blood circulation in your scalp.

9- Periodic, scientific juice-fasting removes toxic chemicals built up in your body, especially from chemically-grown foods, the air, the water and drugs used, thus producing healthier hair and preventing premature graying (and aging); average adult carries 5-10 lbs., accumulated over a lifetime!

10- An ounce (each) of sage and rosemary, left for 24 hours in a pint of good water, provides a tonic for treating dandruff.

11- Apple-cider vinegar, applied as a rinse, is another folk remedy for dandruff: heat only slightly, pour on, and let it 'set' for an hour on a towel-draped head, before shampooing.

12- Vitamin E, rubbed on the scalp, is also an effective remedy against dandruff.

13- Rinse immediately after swimming in chlorine- or otherwise-polluted water.

14- Avoid prolonged exposure to harsh, direct sunlight. Ultraviolet rays do the most damage, so avoid the hours they're most intense--10 a.m. to 2 p.m. (11 a.m. to 3 p.m. during Daylight Savings). Even in the shade, ultraviolet intensity can be 50% of that in bright sunlight, while sandy beaches can actually intensify UV exposure by 25% (100% in snow). Same on hazy or cloudy days, when 70-to-80% of UV rays reach the ground. Most skin cancers, for example, are related to the total amount of sunlight absorbed, so do meter yourself.

15- A correlation has been drawn between excess stress and hair loss, even among modern teenagers, so do try to reduce stressors in your life, as much as possible. Using your wisdom in finding ways to manage stress is fundamental to acheiving better hair and skin vitality, not to mention the other psysiological, psychological and spiritual payoffs.

16- With 50% of U.S. women now coloring their hair, manufacturers have perfected far-less-damaging products, although do avoid the hottest settings of hair-curlers, curling irons and hair-dryers, both to prevent hair damage, as well as avoid skin burning.

17- Don't assume that ingesting more protein will stop or prevent hair loss. The U.S. has, by one estimate, 50 times more baldness than low-protein-diet nations such as China, India, Japan and Mexico.

18- Instead, focus on appropriate exercise and on good (organic, whenever possible), balanced nutrition, including whole grains, nuts and seeds; fresh, raw fruits and vegetables (especially silicon-rich kelp, onions, nettle, comfrey and alfalfa); raw (unfertile, whenever possible) egg yolks once or twice a week, and if you still use milk, goat's rather than cow's, usually in the soured form--kefir, yogurt, etc.

19- Also, try to be accepting of what Life has dealt you, genetically, understanding that even though all of the above can help with hair problems--especially those caused by nutritional deficiencies--all but 2% of male-pattern baldness, for instance, results from an overproduction of sex hormones which thickens the galea--the top sheet of scalp tissue--thus constricting the ability of blood capillaries to feed hair roots.

20- Finally, for your entire head, as Dr. Yeshi Donden concludes in 'The Secret Oran Teachings On the Eight Branches of the Science of Healing' : "Always avoid the two conditions leading to illness--unwholesome diet and behavior--by means of mindfulness. Avoid harmful actions of the body, speech and mind, and devote yourself to what is right. Neither torment your senses of taste and so forth, nor overindulge in sensual pleasures."

As shampoos and soaps strip the body's own natural oils off the skin--leading to unnecessary dryness, especially during cold weather, it is better to use organic products. Obviously, a portion of everything you put on your skin is absorbed through the pores. Hence, anything you use should be organic.

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