Give your medicine cabinet an annual checkup.(Knight Ridder Newspapers)

Byline: Rhoda Fukushima

ST. PAUL, Minn. _ You're good about getting your teeth cleaned regularly and making appointments for the yearly physical.

Don't forget the medicine cabinet needs an annual checkup, too.

"Once a year is a good idea to get rid of anything that is old or needs to be replaced," says Theresa Christiansen, pharmacy manager at Woodwinds Retail Pharmacy in Woodbury, Minn.

We asked four medical experts for their suggestions on what items to stock, where to store them and when to pitch them.

The medicine cabinet is the worst place to store medications. The heat and humidity of the bathroom can increase the rate the medications degrade, says Dr. Thomas Lacker, a professor in the College of …