April 28th, 2011- Expired over-the-counter remedies. Left-over unfinished prescription meds. Your medicine cabinet is not meant to be a storage receptacle. There are many things that are in there right now that shouldn’t be.  And it’s possible they could be keeping you from being in the best possible health.  As many parts of the country emerge from a punishing winter and begin to feel the first effects of spring (allergies!) now is the perfect time for a medicine cabinet makeover. 

According to the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology, more than 35 million Americans face seasonal allergies from pollen each year.  So the start of spring season is a great time to reinvigorate your health.  Consumer health expert Patricia Stark is available to share her tips for staying well, improving your health and oral care, and to share her recommendations on reviewing and restocking your medicine cabinet. She’ll talk about the need to: 

• Have the right OTC products for your family needs including pain relief, antihistamines for allergy relief, products for good oral care and medications for young children or infants
• Always stock items for minor injuries and have basic first-aid materials
• Have topical creams or lotions including sunscreen, anti-itch creams or poison ivy relief
• Safely discard any unused or expired medications and take advantage of “take back” programs

Patricia Stark has been a medical news correspondent, anchor, and host for over 15 years.  She began as host of “Focus on Health” a half hour medical interview program for St. Claire’s Hospital in New Jersey for two years.  This was followed by three years hosting the hour long interview program “Med Talk” for St. Vincent’s Hospital in Staten Island New York.  She went on to Anchor the long running national medical interview program “MDTV Medical News Now” for over 10 years with more than 500 on-air interviews covering an extensive library of health and medical topics.