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TUESDAY, Sept. 8, 2020 (HealthDay News) -- Continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) may be the go-to treatment for sleep apnea, but many people struggle to use it every night. For those who cannot tolerate CPAP, new research finds that a combination of surgical techniques may bring relief. The "multilevel" treatment includes removing the tonsils, repositioning the palate (roof of the mouth) and using radiofrequency to slightly reduce the size of the tongue. In combination, these procedures open up the airway and reduce breathing obstruction, the researchers said. The study found that the multilevel surgery technique reduced the number of times people stopped breathing (apnea events) during sleep and improved daytime sleepiness. People also reported better quality of life after...

TUESDAY, Sept. 8, 2020 (HealthDay News) -- Mom's breast milk can be altered by antibiotics in ways that might harm an infant's health, according to a new study. The Canadian researchers were particularly concerned with an increase in bacteria that can be harmful, namely a bacterium called Pseudomonas that can cause a serious intestinal infection called necrotizing enterocolitis in a preterm infant. About 7% of preterm infants develop this frequently fatal condition, in which part of the bowel dies. Also, a class of antibiotics called cephalosporins had a significant dampening effect on the diversity of microbiota in breast milk, the researchers noted. "The bacteria in breast milk has the potential to transfer to a preterm infant's gut and shape their short- and long-term health and...

TUESDAY, Sept. 8, 2020 (HealthDay News) -- New research reveals what may be fueling racial disparities in U.S. prostate cancer deaths -- disparities that have black patients dying at higher rates than whites. What are they? Education, income and insurance. "Socioeconomic status and insurance status are all changeable factors. Unfortunately, the socioeconomic status inequality in the United States has continued to increase over the past decades," said study author Dr. Wanqing Wen, from Vanderbilt University's School of Medicine in Nashville, Tenn. Wen and his team analyzed U.S. National Cancer Database data on men with prostate cancer who had their prostate removed between 2001 and 2014. The analysis included more than 432,000 whites, more than 63,000 Blacks, nearly 9,000...

TUESDAY, Sept. 8, 2020 (HealthDay News) -- The number of Americans using electronic cigarettes is soaring, especially among youth, a new study finds. Nearly 14 million U.S. adults vaped in 2018, up from just over 11 million adults in 2016. The increase was seen in all socioeconomic groups, the researchers found. "An increasing number of individuals are using e-cigarettes, especially in the younger age groups, which suggests that more individuals are becoming addicted to e-cigarettes rather than just experimenting with them, making the increased uptake among tobacco-naive individuals even more concerning," said lead researcher Dr. Olufunmilayo Obisesan. She's a postdoctoral fellow at Johns Hopkins Ciccarone Center for the Prevention of Cardiovascular Disease, in Baltimore. "The...