This is the 4930th article of Da Yi Xiao Nursing
The aging of society is accelerating, and the number of people with chronic diseases is increasing. For patients with stable conditions, it is a common phenomenon to expect to prescribe more drugs at a time of medical treatment, and to prepare medicines at home. How do you store your medicines at home? Have you ever paid attention to the "storage" conditions in the drug instructions? Let's first take a look at the commonly used environmental "terminology" with the pharmacist.
Protect from light
Avoid direct sunlight.
shading
Packed in opaque containers, such as brown containers, colorless transparent or translucent containers wrapped in black packaging material
Closed
The container is tightly sealed to prevent dust and foreign matter from entering.
seal
Containers are sealed to prevent weathering, moisture absorption, volatilization, or foreign material ingress.
Dry place
Temperature≤ 30°C; Relative humidity 35%~75%.
Cool, dry place
Temperature≤ 25°C; Relative humidity 35%~75%.
Shaded place
Temperature≤ 20°C.
Cool and dark place
Protect from light at ≤ 20°C.
Cold place
Temperature: 2~10°C.
room temperature
Temperature: 10~30°C.
Summarizing the above "terms", we can find that temperature, humidity, light, and the tightness of the drug packaging are the main factors that affect the quality of the drug. If the medicine at home is improperly stored and deteriorates, not only the efficacy is not guaranteed, but also brings potential safety hazards, and the medicine at home needs to be "maintained" and also valued. Depending on the type of medicine, the pharmacist will give you the following reminders:
01
Western
1. Common medicines that need to be refrigerated
Active bacteria: such as Bifidobacterium triple viable capsules, Bifidobacterium quadruple viable tablets, Lactobacillus vaginal live capsules, etc.
injectable hypoglycemic drugs (various insulin and glucagon-like receptor agonists); Human erythropoietin injection, recombinant human erythropoietin injection, human granulocyte-stimulating factor injection, thymus fasin for injection, etc.
Osteoporosis treatment drugs: salmoncalcitonin nasal spray/injection, alfacalciferol drops, etc.
Antibiotics: Tobramycin inhalation solution.
Special reminder: Refrigerate at 2-8°C, do not freeze.
2. Common drugs that need to be shaded
Vitamins (vitamin C, B1, B2, B6, B12), anti-tuberculosis drugs (isoniazid, rifampicin, sodium p-aminosalicylate), antiasthmatic drugs (aminophylline tablets, theophylline tablets), disinfectants (hydrogen peroxide, iodophor, ethacridine lactate solution, etc.). The original packaging of these medicines is a dark-protected material, such as a brown bottle. Remind everyone that the drug is stored in its original packaging, and it is not recommended to divide it by yourself.
02
Chinese herbal decoction pieces
The most basic storage condition for Chinese herbal decoction pieces at home is "placed in a dry place", and at the same time, different decoction pieces will also have the maintenance needs of "cool and dry place", "mothproof", "moisture-proof", "anti-oil" and "mildew-proof".
Mothproof
The main root or seed decoction pieces with high starch content, such as yam, poria cocos, lotus seed, fritillary, smallpox pollen, ginseng, American ginseng, astragalus, etc. It can be refrigerated, sealed and stored or placed with strong smelling herbs such as pepper and star anise to prevent insect moth.
moistureproof
It is mainly some rhizomes or fruit decoction pieces with high sugar content, such as Codonopsis, wolfberry, Ming Codonopsis, Tianlong, etc. Can be sealed or sealed and refrigerated.
Anti-oiling
It is mainly based on seed decoction pieces rich in oil, such as cypress kernels, melon seeds, walnut kernels, etc. It is recommended to keep it refrigerated, and do not continue to take it if it has a pungent "hala smell".
Mold
Decoction pieces that are easy to be polluted by molds in the environment to produce toxic products such as aflatoxins are mainly some fat-rich plant seeds and animal decoction pieces, among which the common ones are peach kernels, sour jujube kernels, jujubes, nutmeg, cassia seeds, fat sea, lotus seeds, coix seeds, malt, etc. It can be sealed and refrigerated, if it is found to be mildew, do not take it.
03
Substitute decoction of Chinese medicine
The decoction of Chinese medicine is sealed and can be stored in a cool place or refrigerator (4~8 °C), and the storage time is recommended not to exceed 3 weeks. To take it, it needs to be warmed (poured into a container for microwave heating or soaked in hot water) and taken warm.
In order to ensure the safety of medication and avoid unknown harm, home medicines also need to be carefully "maintained". Finally, the pharmacist will give you "tips":
1. Check the expiration date before taking the medicine to ensure that it is taken within the expiration date. Individually packaged medicines should also pay attention to whether the packaging is damaged, and do not continue to take them if they find that the properties of the drugs have changed.
2. The "Rainy Season" is a season with high temperature and humidity, which is very suitable for the growth of mold, so try to avoid leaving Chinese herbal decoction pieces for more than 2 weeks at home.
3. Before taking the decoction, you can check whether there is any leakage in the medicine bag, if you find that the medicine bag is swollen or there are bubbles inside, do not continue to take it.
Shanghai Sixth People's Hospital
Pharmacist in charge: Li Yan
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All names and place names have been changed and any similarities are purely coincidental.