PUT 'EM UP: Proper storage keeps medications from degrading.

Byline: Janice Gaston

Feb. 20--Where do you keep your pills? The medicine cabinet in the bathroom? The window ledge over the kitchen sink? The cabinet above the stove? You should find another location. Have you ever reached for a couple of aspirin and found them crumbled into powder at the bottom of the bottle? Most likely, the aspirin degraded because of exposure to heat and moisture. "Medications should be kept in an area that is not the refrigerator, not in full light, not in a bathroom," said Roxanne Yankee, a pharmacist with Walgreen's in Mocksville. Extreme temperatures, sunlight and humidity can cause drugs to break down and become less effective. Although many of us have built-in medicine chests in our bathrooms, those are best used for storing such items as toothbrushes and bandages. A better choice for medicine might be the top shelf of a bedroom closet or an …