Give the Gift of Medicine Safety This Father's Day

ALEXANDRIA, Va., June 15, 2011 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- One of the best gifts you can give your father this Father's Day is to talk to him about medicine safety, according to the health professionals at America's 57 poison control centers.

Data from the American Association of Poison Centers show that adults 40 and older make up 16 percent of poisoning exposure calls to the nation's poison center; however, they account for 56 percent of deaths from poisoning.

"The poison control centers are not just for children," said Kirk Hughes, certified specialist in poison information with the Hennepin Regional Poison Center in Minnesota. "Older adults often call us because they took too much of their own medicine, took someone else's medicine, swallowed the wrong dose, or are concerned about a drug interaction."

Encourage your father (and mother) to follow these medication safety tips:

Know about each medicine you take (name, color, markings, dosage, etc.). Read the label to make sure you are taking the right dose. Follow the instructions to take your medicine the right way. Some medicines interact with food or alcohol, and some should not be taken with other medications. Never take someone else's medicine. Put on your glasses and turn on the lights before taking medicine, especially at night. Keep a list of all your medications and share the list with your doctor at each visit. If more than one doctor prescribes medicine for you, talk to each doctor and your pharmacist so they can check for drug interactions. Talk to your doctor before you take a natural or herbal supplement.

The following are examples of actual calls to poison control centers:

An older man thought he was putting eye drops into his eye, but realized too late that it was actually glue. It was dark, and he was not wearing his glasses. An elderly couple had matching pill dispensers. When his wife was away, the 74-year-old gentleman was confused as to which dispenser was his, and he took his wife's medicine by mistake. A 54-year-old man with a heart condition was supposed to take five prednisone for a bout with poison ivy. The prednisone pills look like his heart medication. He accidentally took five heart medication pills.

"Sometimes older people are upset if they make a mistake with their medicine because they worry they may be forgetting things," Hughes said. "However, people of all ages make mistakes when it comes to taking their medicine. We all should handle our medications carefully.

poison ivy medication | Health Article and Information

Poison ivy , poison oak and poison sumac can be friends and infested, horrible rash for the unfortunates who are allergic to these plants. The urushiol oil is in this poisonous plant that causes the allergic reaction and the associated itching, burning, crying and tears in the skin. If you get a rash of dermatitis, this article will tell you how to get rid of the reaction, without having to wait 2-3 weeks for overcoming the skin naturally. Completely out of your rash dermatitis, the method described in this article only take a couple days to get rid of.

# If you do not stop before a skin rash, and fear one, and then learn to identify poison ivy . If it causes a rash that you have a lot of itching, pain and suffering, then treat it.

# The real trick completely wipe a rash of dermatitis is killing the urushiol – the oil that is the cause. It’s pretty easy to do. White spirit kills urushiol. A natural cure is crushed leaves jewel-weed, but it can be difficult to pinpoint.

# After these few minutes to have, make sure to thoroughly with soap and water, and all chemicals from the skin. Tecnu chemicals are not particularly good for the skin, but they are better that urushiol changes to your skin.

# Your pain should be immediately killed and quite a desire to itch disappears so quickly, but it will take several days for any sign of swelling, cracking, spalling and disappear.

# The hot water on the rash can help relieve itching and dry blisters faster . The rash spread not when it opens or if the liquid flows. They are just body fluids, urushiol.

# In the meantime, follow the advice on how to relieve symptoms.

Healing Without Medication, A Comprehensive Guide to the Complementary Techniques Anyone Can Use to Achieve Real Healing

This is a liver enzyme that breaks down a wide range of medications, ... Poison Ivy, Poison Oak, and Poison Sumac SYMPTOM SUMMARY 3 Red pimples, ...

JAMA., The Journal of the American Medical Association

Intratracheal Medication of Tuberculosis. The following combination is ... Dr. McKee says that if one knows that he has been exposed to poison ivy or poison ...

Journal of the American Medical Association

The intramuscular injection of the toxin of Rhus toxicodendron or the toxin of Rhus venenata can cure the dermatitis produced by poison ivy, oak or sumac. ...

Field & Stream

121 IVAREST POISON IVY MEDICATION HOUR RELIEF Soothing Ivarest is the most effective medicine you can buy to treat poison ivy, oak or sumac. ...

Caring for Your Baby and Young Child, Birth to Age 5

Poison Ivy, Poison Oak, and Poison Sumac Treatment Pinworms can lie treated easily with an oral prescription drug, taken in a single dose and then repeated ...