Health for a lifetime >>>> How to store medicines at home?
How to store medicines at home?
Frequent drug price increases are forcing people to stockpile drugs for future use. Many drugs have expiration dates in excess of one year, which allows them to be purchased in advance for the intended treatment period. But how to store medicines at home so that money is not wasted and health is not endangered due to taking long-term stored medicines?
There are certain standards for the storage of medicines. These standards relate to the ambient temperature, its constancy, air humidity, illumination of the storage location and the tightness of the drug packaging. All drugs are of chemical origin, which means that they are able to change their properties depending on how they are influenced by environmental factors. Therefore, places for storing medicinal products should be thought out in advance and provided with:
- refrigeration unit (for the category of drugs that require lower temperatures),
- an air humidifier that maintains a constant humidity at a level of up to 50% so that the preparations do not damp (do not absorb moisture),
- darkened (no access to sunlight),
- well ventilated or have exhaust ventilation,
- divided into sections for storing separately liquid, tableted or bulk medicines.
On each package of the drug (or in the text of the instructions), specific storage parameters are indicated and they must be strictly adhered to. The shelf life of an open preparation changes.
Expired medicines, even those stored under ideal conditions, change their properties. At best, their therapeutic effect falls, at worst, they turn into substances that can, to varying degrees, have a toxic effect on the body. Such drugs can cause poisoning, unwanted side effects, and sometimes death.
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