Cooling a newborn for three days on a temperature-controlled blanket can help to prevent or reduce brain damage caused by lack of oxygen during difficult births, a national study has found. The research, published in today\'s New England Journal of Medicine, provides hope for babies deprived of oxygen in the first six hours of life. Newborns with that complication, which occurs in fewer than one in 1,000 U.S. births, are more likely to die or face significant mental and physical disabilities, including cerebral palsy, mental retardation, blindness and hearing loss. Between 60,000 and 80,000 of the 4 million babies born in the U.S. each year are at high risk of death or disability because of birth problems that deprive them of oxygen. Forty-four of the babies who were cooled died or developed disabilities, compared with 64 of those who died or developed complications in the comparison group, said Dr. Seetha Shankaran, professor of pediatrics at the Wayne State University School of Medicine and division director of neonatal-perinatal medicine at Children\'s Hospital.