A More Grown-Up Design for Those Child-Proof Caps

Child-resistant caps on prescription and over-the-counter medicines don’t just outwit kids.

One-third of adult respondents in a Michigan State University survey said they sometimes use knives, pliers, screwdrivers, saws and hammers to break into medicines. In a separate study of 526 seniors, 76% reported they have trouble opening and closing child-proof containers.

But easier-to-open models may be on the horizon: The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission is funding a prototype of a new push-and-turn cap, spokesman Ken Giles said.

With traditional child-proof tops, which have an inner and outer cap, an unlocking lug must be engaged with an unlocking cavity, said Hugh Lockhart, a professor of packaging at Michigan State University. He and a team of researchers have tried to improve on that design with a “self-seeking” cap. “When you push down and turn, the lug inside the cap seats itself in the unlocking cavity more easily,” he explained.

The commission received several other design ideas when they asked researchers for suggestions in late 1986. Some are “tool-aided” designs that require consumers to insert keys or coins to align outer and inner caps.

Giles said the first round of prototype testing should be done in about six months, but added he doesn’t expect widespread adoption of the new design unless pressure is applied by consumers or government agencies. “Industry has been slow to take initiative,” he said.

Meanwhile, consumers are advised to:

--Ask for twist-off caps if there are no young children in the household. “But we urge older people to use child-proof caps whenever they visit grandchildren or their grandchildren visit them,” noted Giles.

--Register complaints or suggestions with the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission at (800) 638-2772.

--Be patient. The more slowly a medicine bottle is opened, the better, Lockhart suggested. “Push down gently but firmly and turn the cap slowly until you can feel the locking parts engage.”

Down’s Syndrome Risk

An inexpensive blood test is expected to be a valuable screening tool for Down’s syndrome, helping doctors determine which pregnant women are at highest risk for giving birth to babies with the chromosomal abnormality.

Currently, pregnant women over 35 and certain others are advised to undergo amniocentesis, which costs about $1,000 and involves withdrawing amniotic fluid containing fetal cells and examining them for chromosomal defects. About one in 200 women who undergo the procedure miscarry, doctors say. Each year in the United States about 5,000 babies are born with Down’s syndrome, characterized by mental retardation, a broad face and slanting eyes.

The $50 blood test, which would precede amniocentesis, detects the levels of three substances associated with Down’s syndrome, said Glenn Palomaki of the Foundation for Blood Research in Scarborough, Me., co-author of a report published in the current issue of the British Medical Journal. The substances include alpha-fetoprotein, estriol and human chorionic gonadotropin. Women with abnormal levels would then be candidates for amniocentesis.

The test, expected to become available in two or three years, isn’t meant to replace amniocentesis, which Palomaki said is “virtually foolproof.”

Hope for PMS Sufferers

For women who suffer from premenstrual syndrome, a disorder marked by mood changes, irritability, fatigue and weight gain, two recent studies may offer hope.

In a small percentage of women, pelvic infection may mimic PMS, said a New York gynecologist who found the use of a common antibiotic sometimes eliminates PMS symptoms.

Dr. Attila Toth, associate professor of obstetrics and gynecology at New York Hospital/Cornell Medical Center, gave doxycycline to 30 women for 30 days. Of the 20 women followed up for three years, seven maintained improvement, he reported in the current issue of the Journal of International Medical Research.

In some women, Toth believes, low-grade infections disrupt the lining of the uterus or ovarian function, producing hormonal irregularities that result in PMS-like symptoms. “I have not discovered a cure for PMS,” he emphasized.

Another researcher believes that metabolites or breakdown products of the hormone progesterone, rather than the progesterone itself, may be responsible for PMS symptoms.

Emphasizing that further study is needed, Kelvin Gee, an assistant professor of pharmacology at the USC School of Pharmacy, said eventually one treatment for PMS might be “administration of progesterone metabolites premenstrually.” He reported his preliminary findings in the Journal of Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics.

Age and Knee Surgery

Age doesn’t seem to influence recovery time after arthroscopic meniscectomy, a common surgery in which a special viewing instrument is inserted into the knee and troublesome cartilage is removed, researchers report in the Journal of Orthopaedic and Sports Physical Therapy.

In a study of 24 knee surgery patients, divided into three age groups (younger than 20, 24-45, and 50 and older), all recovered “almost 90% strength by 3.4 weeks of rehabilitation,” the researchers write.

o An exercise program and strength testing were begun as soon as possible after surgery, added Bruce W. Craig, a professor of physical education at Ball State University in Muncie, Ind.

Strength in the hamstring (back of the thigh) muscles returned earlier than strength in the quadriceps (front of the thigh) muscles in all three groups.

“No significant difference was found in the time it took each of the three age groups to achieve release from rehabilitation,” the study found. “This indicated that age alone is not a limiting factor in regaining leg strength following arthroscopic partial meniscectomy.”