Health Tips for March 26

Health Tip: Remember to Take Your Medicine

Many medications should be taken at the same time every day, both to ensure their effectiveness and so that you remember to take them.

The American Heart Association offers these suggestions to help keep you on schedule:

• Make taking your medication a part of your daily routine, as you would brushing your teeth.
• Take your medicine while performing another daily activity, such as having breakfast.
• Use a daily pill box to organize and track when you've taken your medication.
• Track taking your medication on a calendar, and mark off the day afterward.
• Use a white board to keep track of when you've taken your medication.
• Ask a family member or friend to remind you each day.

Health Tip: Medications and Pregnancy

You may take certain over-the-counter supplements and medications without thinking twice. But when you're pregnant, even drugs that you can buy without a prescription can affect the developing fetus.

The American Academy of Family Physicians offers these safety guidelines about medications and pregnancy:

• Don't take any medicine or herbal supplement without checking with your doctor.
• Try not to take any medicine during your first trimester of pregnancy, when your baby is most likely to be affected.
• If you are having pain, acetaminophen is usually safe for pregnant women to take for a short period. But you should first check with your doctor.
• Don't take aspirin while you're pregnant.
• Don't take an NSAID -- such as Advil, Motrin or Aleve -- while you're pregnant, particularly during your third trimester.