Like everything else in life, timing is everything!  So when taking your medicine, it could become part of your essential routine to take your meds at a particular time.  This is no laughing matter, especially when it comes to your heart!

Well, you may have already heard that your body has certain rhythms.  What this means is that your medication could affect you differently at different times of the day.  If you take your medicine at the right time, you may actually boost the effectiveness and increase your chances of feeling better.  One the other hand, if you take it at the wrong time, you may prevent your medication to work fully and reap the benefits.

Would you believe that the first hour or two after rising, is when you are more likely to have a heart attack or stroke.  If you are an angina sufferer, this is also the more likely time to have chest pain.  Most angina patients feel worse in the morning and as their day progress they gradually feel better.

There are several reasons for this.  Blood volume to your heart tends to decrease in the morning, blood tends to clot and your arteries are narrower.  Your blood pressure drops at night so you can sleep, then once you are awake, it will increase about 20 percent.

Because of this, some angina medication is designed for extended release.  so if you take it at night, it is working its best in the morning, when you need it the most.

Blood pressure medication, however, may work better if taken in the morning when you wake up, instead after you had your shower, shave, dress, and made your breakfast.

Heart conditions aren't the only ones that may benifit from timing medications.  Children with leukemia, in one study found, who took their maintenance medication in the evening were three times less likely to experience relapse than children who took their medicine in the morning.

Here are a few other conditions that may benifit from timing your medications include:

Asthma Some drugs used to treat asthma work better when taken in the afternoon instead of morning.

Arthritis If your arthritis bothers you the most in the morning, nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs work better if taken in the evening.  If you suffer in the evening, your body may respond better to these drugs when taken around noon.

Ulcers Ulcer medicine like Tagamet and Pepcid work best if taken once a day with your evening meal.