As I mentioned yesterday in a post about bathroom medicine cabinets, the heat and humidity from your shower -- and the effect that has on the potency of medicine -- makes the bathroom one of the worst places to keep prescriptions or over-the-counter drugs.

Here are a few more medication-related tips, some of which may come as a bit of a surprise to you:

• Throw away any pills that have changed color, texture, or smell, as well as capsules or tablets that stick together or are cracked or chipped.
• Take the cotton plug out of an opened bottle once it's opened. The cotton can suck moisture in.
• Be sure to get rid of and replace expired medication. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) suggests crushing meds and dissolving them as completely as possible in a plastic container or bag filled with water. To further breakdown the meds, add coffee grounds, cat litter, and saw dust to the water, and then seal and throw the bag away (away as in into the garbage, not flushed down your toilet).

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It turns out that the price of a sugar pill may affect how well it performs on pain. Most people don't go shopping for placebo medication, but this new study does suggest one interesting conclusion. The perception of your meds being expensive treatments or "discount" pills will affect how your body reacts to the medication.

The placebo effect is an amazing thing to study. But who would have thought price would come into play as well? One reason researchers think this has such a profound result is that our bodies produce natural painkillers anyway. Apparently if we believe we're getting a better product, then we'll respond that way!

In fact, a Duke University clinical professor says it can help upwards of 50 percent for some people! This is in regards to migraines, but it's amazing to think we can materialize our own recovery like that. So should you be ditching discount drugs altogether? Obviously it's a matter of perspective, but real drugs are drugs. So listen to your doctor because in the end medical professionals will point you in the right direction.

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The Internet is big. It can feel even bigger when you're scouring search engines for valuable medical information. Spam, sites trying to sell you stuff, and bad directions plague every corner of the information super highway. That's why there are articles like this one giving a handful of tips on how to navigate the wild wild west of the world wide web.

For starters, try using search engines that won't give you garbage as search results. Google is great, but as we all know sometimes it can be misleading. Sites like MedlinePlus are made specifically for health and medical purposes. If you're looking for trusted info, start there.

Tutorials are also helpful. Why? Because they can teach you how to decipher the jargon behind so many of the research and medical articles you see online. This literature can be helpful, so it would be to your advantage to know what they're saying if you want a complete picture. Of course, if you ever come across a website that you aren't sure about, do a background check. Many sites (especially the ones you can trust) have an "About Us" page which you can use to learn more about them. These are just a few examples, so check out the full article here!

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After more than ten years in the making, professor Thomas Kosten has finished a vaccine that has the potential to cure addiction. The way it accomplishes this is nothing short of amazing. The drug literally prevents the body from getting high!

Right now, the vaccine addresses the effects of cocaine most effectively. However, he says they are working on translating this wonder medicine to other applications such as methamphetamine and heroin. Imagine if they could address the same addiction that cigarette smokers deal with?

Another incredible aspect of this vaccine is that even thought the process takes a while, there are no withdrawals. So patients trying to kick the addiction to a substance don't have to go through all the painful side-effects! So how did they do it? Well, doctors inject an altered version of the drug, in this case the cocaine molecule, which tells the body to start making antibodies against it. When the real cocaine is used, it ends up getting urinated out before it ever reaches the brain. Science can do some truly amazing things -- let's see if they can come up with more variations of this vaccine!

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Have you ever gone to Wal-Mart and tried to get a simple cough or allergy medication that required you to jump through hoops to buy it? That's a way for them to make sure you aren't peddling drugs and turning into narcotics. It would be a shame if something like that happened to simple cold medicine.

The reason I pose that scenario is because there's some news out that reveals a scary statistic. Over 3 million teenagers and young adults have used cough and cold medication to get high. The abuse stems from using DXM, which is a suppressant found in 140+ medications. Needless to say, with numbers like these they obviously didn't need a prescription to get it.

According to the article, side effects of taking too much can include disorientation, blurred vision, slurred speech and vomiting. Who would want to sign up for that treatment? Apparently some of the same 12 to 25 year-olds who use marijuana, since over 80 percent surveyed experimented with that stuff too. It's going to be interesting to see the reaction to this, and if any regulation comes from it.

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While it's mostly an issue for older adults, mixing medications and taking too many different types at one time is a concern for everyone. Even if you're in close contact with your doctor there is still a significant risk to your health if you're on more than a couple different meds -- drugs are getting so complicated these days human error is inevitable when it comes to remembering, and predicting, side-effects and drug interactions.

How many meds are you or your loved ones currently taking? Are you aware of and watchful of potential side-effects and are you absolutely sure you need them all? When it comes to your health you are your own best ally, so educate yourself and be involved.

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There are lots of pill boxes and pill management systems out there, but this one now has the FDA's stamp of approval. Called EMMA (Electronic Medication Management System), it's a gadget about the size of a breadbox that's designed for older patients and those with complicated dosing schedules. It stores the medications, alerts when it's time to take them, and releases the correct pills into a tray when activated by the patient at the right time. Dosages and times can be accessed and adjusted online by the doctor, pharmacist, or other health care professional.

Neat!

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"Death is a dialogue between the spirit and the dust," wrote Emily Dickinson. What do you suppose she would have thought about this new perspective on death? According to this Newsweek Health article, doctors are changing the way they look at a body's cellular extinction.

For the longest time, doctors operated under the notion that people who suddenly lost circulation (like from cardiac arrest) died due to lack of blood to the brain and heart. This supposedly caused irreparable damage to the tissues after five minutes. However, no one had actually observed this cellular destruction under a microscope.

It turns out that cells do not die within this time period, but in fact stay alive for hours later. The reason why people can't be resuscitated after four or five minutes is not because their heart tissue is dead, but because the cells actually die when oxygen flow is resumed! This is called "reperfusion" and refers to the resumption of oxygen supply. What does this mean? By pumping a body full of oxygen in attempts to revive them, it actually kills them faster. Read the rest here for more details and information about the new way to treat the dead.

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Let's face it: sometimes stress can manifest itself in embarrassing ways, like acne. Treatment options for acne can span from controversial drugs to ancient wives' tales. But here is an interesting take on six natural methods for battling that sensitive subject.

Leading the crusade against dirty pores is garlic. Whether you eat it raw or take pills, garlic can kill bacteria under the skin which causes acne. Just remember to brush your teeth. Another method that may throw us for a loop is Kombucha tea. Never heard of it? Welcome to the club. After giving it some research, this elixir seems to be the hidden fountain of youth! All that aside, this ancient beverage is believed to promote healthy skin (among a slew of other things).

A couple of other treatments include eating foods with oxalic acid (almonds, beets, cashews) and keeping your body clean from toxins. To accomplish the latter, try upping your fiber intake or grab some yogurt which contains beneficial intestinal flora. Read on to learn more on these natural remedies for acne.

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You can save a lot of money by switching to generic medications, right? If you have insurance, then yes. But if you're one of the many Americans who don't have adequate prescription coverage (or no health coverage at all) then generics may cost you more than you expect.

The Wall Street Journal took a closer look at this issue and found that generic medication costs "can vary wildly and may not be nearly as cheap as expected." I was surprised to read that pharmacies like Walgreens and CVS started dropping certain prescription prices by $40 or more once questioned about seemingly high prices.

Ugh, money and health care is really starting to give me a headache.

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High blood pressure in adults is something of a norm nowadays. Since we've got pills for just about everything, why not add another one in the morning to combat blood pressure? Well, when a doctor prescribes such a medication it would be prudent to follow through with the treatment. However there are some non-medical options you can explore to work alongside any meds your doctor may have given you. As this article featuring tips for lowering blood pressure tells us, by complementing a doctor's treatment it could only help and may even lead to getting off medication altogether.

Of course the factors for getting high blood pressure are numerous. It can be genetic, so the only thing that can be done is medication. Blood pressure issues can also stem from being overweight or consuming too much salt. As we all know, exercise (or lack thereof) plays a huge role in our overall health -- so getting within the normal 120/80 value range is dependent on that factor as well.

This article hammers home the truth that lifestyle changes are necessary for making inroads in better health. Quitting smoking, reducing salt intake, exercise daily, and watching saturated fats are all among the common ways to combat high blood pressure (and other things too!). Check the site for more articles on this topic.

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Many people have a usual medical routine or consistent doctor they visit when the ailment calls for it. So it is no surprise that the term alternative medicine may conjure up confusion. After all, how many people know what homeopathy or ayurveda is?

This article from the Mayo Clinic seeks to enlighten those of us who are in the dark on complementary therapy. They first start off by calling it "practices that aren't integral parts of conventional medicine." Okay, easy enough. But don't get confused: complementary and alternative medical methods aren't the same thing. The complementary variety usually goes hand in hand with conventional prescriptions while alternative methods seek to replace them.

Whatever you are curious about, it goes without saying that you should always ask your doctor before trying alternative medicine. Do your homework and research it first. Try starting here and you'll find a wealth of information on the topic and even find some good examples.

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When going through that certain stage of life when everyone's face starts showing signs of maturity, sometimes all you want to do is crawl into a dark cave and wait it out. Washing your face with soap won't always do the trick either, so it's no surprise that many people have opted for the controversial medicine called Accutane.

It's usually the last resort after alternative acne treatments have failed. As with most drugs of this nature, it can have some adverse affects (like drying of skin), and a new study is conveying that it could also raise your cholesterol.

About 14,000 people who were on the drug were tested, but the good news is that blood levels went back down to pretreatment levels in most after they got off it. Researchers are still trying to scope out the long-term affects though to see if there are any cardiovascular implications. As someone who has personally taken this medicine, I can say that I hope they find some good results in that area.

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