Health Highlights: Jan. 27, 2005

Here are some of the latest health and medical news developments, compiled by editors of HealthDay:

U.S. Petroleum Refiner Agrees to Cut Air Pollution

The largest U.S. domestic petroleum refiner has reached an agreement with the Environmental Protection Agency to cut air pollution, it was announced Thursday.

The Clean Air Act settlement with ConocoPhillips is expected to reduce harmful air emissions by more than 47,000 tons a year -- more than 37,100 tons of sulfur dioxide and more than 10,000 tons of nitrogen oxide.

The agreement affects nine of the company''s refineries in seven states, which represents almost 10 percent of the total refining capacity in the United States, according to an EPA news release. ConcoPhillips agreed to upgrade its leak detection and repair practices, reduce emissions from its sulfur recovery plants, implement programs to reduce flaring of hazardous gases, and ensure proper handling of hazardous benzene wastes.

The company will also pay a $4.5 million civil penalty and spend more than $10 million on supplemental environmental projects to further reduce emissions, the EPA said of the new agreement, the 13th in a series of settlements under the Petroleum Refinery Initiative.

-----

Head Cooling May Help Oxygen-Deprived Newborns

Head cooling in order to lower the brain temperature of babies deprived of oxygen at birth may reduce the risk of brain damage, says a study published online Thursday in the journal The Lancet.

The study included 218 infants who''d either had inadequate oxygen supply to the brain during delivery or whose brain electrical activity indicated they were at high risk for brain injury. Researchers assigned 108 of the infants to receive head cooling for 72 hours, starting within six hours of birth. The other 110 infants received conventional care.

The study found that 55 percent of the infants who received head cooling died or were severely disabled, compared with 66 percent of the infants who received conventional care. The results suggest that starting head cooling within six hours of birth offered some benefit, but the effect was not statistically significant, the researchers concluded.

"Our study suggests that, except in the most severe cases, selective head cooling soon after birth could be a clinically feasible treatment to reduce disability due to neonatal brain damage. In the future, measurements of brain electrical activity may help us to target treatment in babies who are most likely to benefit from cooling," researcher Alistair Gunn, University of Auckland, said in a prepared statement.

Oxygen deprivation at birth affects about two in 1,000 newborns. Previous research found that reducing brain temperature by two to five degrees C may lower the risk of brain damage in these infants.

-----

Seniors Turn to Various Sources for Medicare Drug Advice, Survey

Seniors seeking advice on the new Medicare drug benefit are most likely to ask their doctor, pharmacist or the Medicare program, according to a Kaiser Family Foundation survey released Thursday.

The survey found that 38 percent of seniors said they''d be very likely to get advice from their doctor, 30 percent said they''d consult their pharmacist, and 31 percent said they''d use a Medicare Web site or phone number.

"Seniors say they are most likely to turn to doctors, pharmacists and Medicare for help in making decisions about the new drug law, but most doctors and pharmacists won''t have the time or the knowledge to provide personal assistance," Drew E. Altman, Kaiser Family Foundation president, said in a prepared statement.

"That''s going to put enormous pressure on the government to inform the 41 million people with Medicare about their options, so that they can take advantage of the new benefit. It''s a huge implementation challenge," Altman said.

The survey found that many seniors are confused and uninformed about the new drug benefit, set to begin next year, and are more likely to view it negatively.

-----

60 Corporations to Offer Uninsured Health Insurance

Sixty of the largest employers in the United States are banding together to offer low-cost health insurance options for those who typically aren''t eligible for corporate health plans, according to The New York Times.

General Electric, IBM, McDonald''s, and Sears are among the corporate giants who plan to offer the low-cost plans, beginning in April. Some 3 million people -- representing part-time and temporary workers, contractors, consultants and early retirees -- will be eligible, the newspaper said. That would represent about 6.7 percent of the estimated 45 million uninsured Americans.

While the companies won''t subsidize the coverage, their participation would create a pool of workers large enough to justify a rate lower than if the corporations offered the coverage by themselves, the Times said.

The plans will range from a $5-a-month drug and physician discount card to a $300-a-month plan that covers major medical and hospital expenses, the newspaper said.

-----

Not Easy for People to Get Mad Cow, Study Suggests

It may not be as easy as some may fear for people to acquire mad cow disease from eating contaminated meat, a new French study suggests.

In a single meal, a person would have to eat about three pounds of brain and viscera from an infected cow to contract the human form of mad cow, according to study leader Jean-Philippe Deslys, a researcher at the French Atomic Energy Commission.

Deslys, writing in The Lancet medical journal, conceded his study offers only an estimate of what a person would have to consume to acquire the human form of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), the formal name for mad cow.

According to Canada''s Globe and Mail newspaper, Deslys'' research is very speculative, since it was derived from a lab experiment with monkeys. Others writing in the same journal doubted any strong conclusions could be derived from the research.

To date, 148 people have died from the human form of mad cow in Britain. France has recorded nine deaths from the disease; Ireland, two; and the United States, Canada and Italy, one each, the newspaper said.

-----

Scent of a Woman May Work for Elders, Too

The alluring chemical scent that young women give off to attract men seems to provide the same effect for post-menopausal women, Harvard University researchers say.

When the scientists added the scent, called a pheromone, to perfume used by older women, their romantic lives seemed to improve, the researchers wrote in New Scientist magazine. The study was also published in the Journal of Sex Behavior.

Study leader Joan Friebely and her colleagues applied the test to 44 post-menopausal women. Those who used the treated perfume found their partners to be more affectionate than those who used the normal perfume, according to an account of the study by BBC News Online.

The amorous amigos might have been less enamored if they knew the source of the scent -- the armpit sweat of younger women, the network said.