If you have a slice of delicious cake, would you think it's OK to chow down the whole cake in one sitting? Of course not. Common sense would tell you that a whole cake is just too much. Unfortunately, when it comes to health advice, not everybody uses common sense.

I recently wrote a post about the benefits vitamin D can have on heart health. That's only one of the perks of vitamin D that has been in the press lately. Now many people -- buying into the vitamin D kick hook, line and sinker -- are buying high-dosage vitamin D supplements from pharmacies and health food stores.

There is no science that says high doses of vitamin D are necessary. And why waste your money on a supplement when vitamin D is so readily available from other sources? Sunlight is your best source, but again, it's important to be reasonable. You don't want to spend too much time in the sun without the protection of sunblock, so a few short 10-15 minute walks outside each week will do. Vitamin D is also available in fortified foods such as milk, some cereals, and orange juice, and it's naturally found in salmon and other oil-rich fish.

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Pain Killers are a staple in almost every person's medicine cabinet. Aches or pains? We pop a pill with nary a thought towards what we're putting into our body. But it's important to know what you're putting into your body. Here's a quick run-down of the popular pain killers on the market:

• Aspirin can reduce fever, pain and swelling, and it's also been proven to help prevent blood clots, strokes and heart attacks. However, it's not right for everyone--it can cause Reyes syndrome in teenagers--so talk to your doctor first.
  
• Ibuprofen can reduce fever and mild pains, but in some cases, it has been shown to cause stroke and heart trouble. It's also hard on the stomach.
  
• Acetaminophen, the active ingredient in Tylenol, is good for relieving mild fever and pain, but be sure to adhere to the dosage guidelines, especially when giving it to children.
  

Want more info on pain meds? Click here.

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A drug problem that does n to get a lot of attention is the inability of many patients to actually and specifically take medication dosages on the exact conditions prescribed to by physicians and labeled (in sometimes cryptic instructions) on each container.

Is this a deadly problem? According to the U.S. government, it is. A report being issued this week states that millions of people don't take their medicine correctly, and some even stop taking it completely -- both of which are most likely against doctor's orders. Whose responsibility is this? Most likely the patient, but are doctors doing enough also?

It's shocking to think that almost 50% of patients with chronic illnesses skip doses or otherwise don't conform to the directions for properly taking their medications. Half? Something is seriously out of whack here.

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I thank my lucky stars that I'm not on any medications. But my father takes meds every day to help manage several chronic conditions. The co-pays are an expense my parents have to work in to their budget. Medications and medical coverage in general are becoming a concern even for those who are still lucky enough have employer-sponsored insurance. (In this respect, I'm not so lucky.) The University of Michigan conducted a study to see if the practice of "pill-splitting" can help reduce costs for insurance companies, employers, and ultimately patients.

Pill-splitting isn't a new concept. Basically, patients just cut larger doses in half to increase the amounts of their medications. (As instructed by their physician. Lowering your dosage just to extend medications is never recommended.) Since drug companies don't typically double the cost of medication for higher dosages, this can translate to cost savings.

Certain medications are more conducive to splitting that other. For example, pills that are coated in a time release coating are not good choices for splitting. 89% of patients in the study stated that they'd be willing to continue with the slight inconvenience of splitting pills if it meant a cost savings for them. The practice doesn't come without some concerns, however. The elderly and people with arthritis or other dexterity issues would likely have trouble splitting pills. Also it could result in people accidentally doubling their dosage or halving the dosage of medications that should not be split.

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When you hit up your local nutrition center for some daily vitamins, most of us don't think twice about questioning the authenticity of their benefits. ConsumerLab.com tried testing 21 multivitamins between the States and Canada to find out that only ten met their label's claims or quality standards.

If that isn't bad enough, one particular vitamin set off alarms when The Vitamin Shoppe Multivitamins Especially for Women brand was found to have lead contamination. Half of the vitamins didn't have enough of the product their labels claimed, or they had too much of it. To add insult to injury, some of them didn't even dissolve in the right amount of time, meaning the body could not have absorbed what it needed.

Don't panic and throw away your multivitamin just yet. The good news is that some of the most popular brands passed the test. Centrum Silver, Member's Mark Complete Multi, One A Day Women's and Flintstones Complete were among the successful ones. Read on to find out more results and to see why taking a vitamin with too much punch in the pill could be dangerous.

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