A sharps bin is a container used to dispose of sharp medical supplies. They are for used by people who need to dispose of sharps (needles, or other sharp items) that need to be used in the course of their medical treatment. There are a lot of medical conditions that require people to self-inject medications if they are happy and comfortable to do so. Some examples of these include anticoagulants to prevent blood clots, immune system modulators for inflammatory conditions such as rheumatoid arthritis, fertility treatments and growth hormone deficiency treatments. People with diabetes that use insulin or test their blood sugar levels will also need a sharps bin. Items that can go in a sharps bin include needles, syringes, broken glass, finger pricking devices such as lancets, and clippers used to detach needles and the sharp part of syringes. Sharps bins come in a range of different sizes, depending on the capacity that is needed by the patient.

Standard tablets and capsules are known as immediate-release medicines. This means that they fully disintegrate straight away in your stomach following oral administration, releasing the medicine from the formulation. The medicine is then usually absorbed into your bloodstream through the small intestine once it has dissolved in intestinal fluids. Most tablets and capsules are designed this way. However, modified-release tablets and capsules are different. They have been specifically designed to change the release of the medicine into the body to provide a clinical benefit for the patient. The main types of modified-release medicines are delayed-release and extended-release medicines. We will explore these in more detail below. 

Much like how a walking stick helps someone to walk independently, medication aids help individuals take their medications independently and easily. Medication aids can help you to remember when to take medicines and help with dexterity issues that affect your ability to use your inhaler, for example.

Electroconvulsive therapy (also known as ECT) is a treatment for certain types of extremely severe mental illnesses that have not improved with all other treatment options. ECT is the process of passing an electrical current through the brain and stimulating a controlled seizure by placing an electrode on one side of the temple area of the head or an electrode on each side of the head. Before the electrical current that lasts between 6 - 12 seconds is delivered, the person is given a general anaesthetic and muscle relaxant. The treatment is normally done two times a week for a maximum of twelve times however it is stopped as soon as a response to the treatment is seen. How ECT works is not fully understood, but is thought that it changes the levels of certain chemicals in the brain.

 If your medicine cabinet is full of old medicines that are out of date or that you no longer need to take, you may be wondering how to dispose of them correctly. Although it may be tempting to throw them in the bin or flush them down the toilet for the sake of convenience, doing so can be harmful and should be avoided. Therefore, we have created this article to help you understand how to dispose of old medicines safely and why this is important.