Capsules

Chances are, your medicine cabinet contains some pills that are past their expiration date. You might even have some pain relievers, some cough syrup or some sleeping pills that were purchased back when Richard Nixon was in the White House. But you can't seem to throw them away because you suspect they might still be OK to take. If you've wondered whether medicines really do need to be tossed after their expiration date, you're got some company at the California Poison Control System, UC San Francisco and UC Irvine.

Have you ever slathered on sunscreen but somehow managed to miss your nose? Or the back of your hand? Or the tops of your feet? You're not the only one. According to the American Academy of Dermatology, most people apply less than half of the optimal amount of sunscreen, a habit that adds up to a lot of burned patches and uncomfortable rides home from the beach.

Many California doctors are making large profits by prescribing and directly dispensing custom-made "compounded" drugs to people with work-related injuries, according to a new Rand Corp. research report. Use of these pricey drugs ? mostly painkilling creams for patients who might need an alternative to pills ? has soared in recent years, driving up costs in California's workers' compensation system and alarming some legislators, who are now looking to rein in their use. Rand was hired to do the study after lawmakers asked the California Commission on Health and Safety and Workers' Compensation to look into the compounded-drug trend.

Candy hearts and fancy chocolate boxes are showing up in stores, which means many couples are starting to look forward to a special day of ... something other than candy. But even on a holiday devoted to the cause, sexual desire can be hard to come by. Whether it's because of age, illness, stress or distractions, many people feel their spark isn't sparking like it should. Not surprisingly, a lot of would-be romantics turn to herbal remedies for help. "We sell a lot of libido products throughout the year, but we definitely see a spike around Valentine's Day," says Bill Chioffi, director of education for Gaia Herbs, a company in Brevard, N.C., that makes two supplements for the occasion: Women's Libido and Male Libido.

For millions of people, the quietest room is never quiet enough. Even when surrounded by silence, they can hear a ringing or buzzing in their ears that drives them to distraction. The sound is called tinnitus, and sufferers — often people with hearing trouble thanks to advanced age or loud sounds — are willing to go to great lengths to stop the noise. Some plead with their doctors to cut their hearing nerves completely, but even this drastic measure won't help. The few patients who have had the procedure could still hear their tinnitus — and nothing else.

It has a smoky, bitter taste, a deeply unpleasant odor and bears a close resemblance to black gobs of tar. Pricey tar, mind you: 10 grams (a month's supply) will set you back $80. The substance, called shilajit, is an ancient ayurvedic medicine. On websites, you'll read that it has anti-anxiety, "rejuvenating" and aphrodisiac properties and is a panacea for many ills, from diabetes to bronchitis - and, further, that it was praised by Aristotle, prized by Genghis Khan and was the closely guarded secret weapon of Soviet cosmonauts and Olympic athletes.

Age is just a number. But for men, that number says a lot about what's going on in their bodies. Starting at about age 30, men start producing less testosterone, the hormone that helps spark sex drive, build muscle and stoke energy, ambition and aggression. In short, it helps men feel manly. For all of the talk about "male menopause," the loss of testosterone isn't anything like the hormonal nose dive that women go through. Instead of essentially disappearing all at once, testosterone levels usually decline by about 1% every year (although they can drop more dramatically, especially if a man becomes ill)

Joanne Clarke, a legal secretary in her late 50s, leads the way down a pale green hallway in her modest Costa Mesa home, past a small guest room on the right and a blue tiled bathroom on the left. At the end of the hall, she opens a door, pushes aside a thick black curtain and ducks inside. "Isn't this wild?" she says, gesturing to the high-tech marijuana grow room she and her husband recently installed. "This used to be my daughter's bedroom. " Wild is one word for it. Bright is another.