Home Tips

Some Useful Home Tips :

1. How to Dispose of Unused Medicine

Guidelines for Drug Disposal
•Follow any specific disposal instructions on the drug label or patient information that accompanies the medication.
• Take advantage of community drug take-back programs that allow the public to bring unused drugs to a central location for proper disposal. Call your city or county government's household trash and recycling service (see blue pages in phone book) to see if a take-back program is available in your community.
• If no instructions are given on the drug label and no take-back program is available in your area, throw the drugs in the household trash.

Why the Precautions?
• Disposal instructions on the label are part of FDA's "risk mitigation" strategy, says Capt. Jim Hunter, R.Ph., M.P.H., senior program manager on FDA's Controlled Substance Staff. When a drug contains instructions to flush it down the toilet, he says, it's because FDA, working with the manufacturer, has determined this method to be the most appropriate route of disposal that presents the least risk to safety.

2. Eat different foods at different meals.

Eat different foods at different meals. A meal consisting of proteins, carbohydrates and fats may remain in the stomach for six to seven hours before the stomach is emptied. If carbohydrates are eaten without proteins, they remain in the stomach for a relatively short period. A fruit meal remains in the stomach for even shorter time. It is advisable to eat these different foods at different meals- a fruit meal, a starch meal and a protein meal. The ideal practice is a fruit meal for breakfast, a starch meal with salad and non- starchy vegetables for lunch, and a protein meal with a salad and non-starchy vegetables for dinner.

3. Relax the eyes to relieve glaucoma.

The glaucoma patient should undertake various methods of relaxing and strengthening the eyes. He should avoid emotional stress and cultivate a tranquil, restful life style. He should also avoid prolonged straining of the eyes such as occurs during excessive TV or movie watching and excessive reading. The use of sun glasses should be avoided. Equally important is the avoidance of stimulants, tea, coffee, and caffeinated soft drinks.

4. Balanced diet for restoring restful sleep.

A balanced diet with simple modifications in the eating pattern will go a long way in the treatment and cure of insomnia. Such a diet should exclude white flour products, sugar and its products, tea, coffee, chocolate, cola drinks, alcohol, fatty foods, fried foods, foods containing additives, that is chemicals for preserving, colouring and flavouring, excessive use of salt and strong condiments. In the modified eating pattern, breakfast should consist of fresh and dried fruits, whole cereals, seeds and yoghurt. Of the two main meals, one should consist of a large mixed salad and the other should be protein-based. A cup of milk sweetened with honey at bedtime is helpful as the amino acid tryptophan contained in milk induces sleep.