Surgery dates back to Neolithic times, but some major advances have occurred in the last 20 years that have allowed for previously unthinkable procedures.

While many new techniques have been cool without being clinically relevant,  Jeffrey Matthews, the chairman of surgery at the University of Chicago Hospital, explains some of the advances that have actually helped save lives.

And we’ll look back at some aspects of surgery that haven’t changed over the decades.

Here are the most important surgical advances of the last 20 years, and some old surgical procedures that are still popular.

1. Laparoscopy
2. Endovascular Surgery
3. Robotic Surgery
4. Microsurgery
5. Fetal Surgery
6. Live Organ Transplant
7. Caesarian Section
8. Trauma Surgery
9. Amputation
10. Obesity Surgery

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CHICAGO (Reuters) – U.S. consumers should avoid two brands of pistachios tied to a salmonella-related recall because they may have been repackaged and sold in airports and hotels, the Food and Drug Administration said.

The federal agency identified the suspect brands late on Monday as California Prime Produce and Orange County Orchards, which were repacked by Orca Distribution West Inc of Anaheim, California.

The potentially tainted pistachios came from Setton Pistachio of Terra Bella, California, which issued a nationwide recall of its products in late March after salmonella was found in some nuts.

The bacteria can cause serious and sometimes fatal infections in young children, frail or elderly people, and others with weakened immune systems.

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President Obama recently signed a bill that seeks to regulate the tobacco industry and introduces new measures to control the amount of nicotine addiction throughout the country.

As a result of the bill, the FDA will have two years to create color coded labels for every cigarette sold in the US as well reduce the amount of nicotine that can be contained in cigarettes.

The new legislation also places a ban on all flavored cigarettes in an attempt to reduce the amount of teens that are attracted to smoking and places very strict regulations on where companies that manufacture tobacco are allowed to advertise.

Reforms such as this have long been in the works and date back to Robert Kennedy’s efforts to ban tobacco advertising from the airwaves.

Despite the new regulations, the bill has been met with some resistance and criticism from those who say it does not go far enough as flavors such as menthol remain unbanned and that the role of the FDA in regulating cigarette addiction is not carefully defined.

Did you know that there are chemicals in some diet sodas that may actually help dissolve kidney stones?

Recent research presented by the American Urology Association found that the substances citrate and malate were present in several diet sodas in amounts high enough to help dissolve kidney stones.

The highest levels were seen in Diet 7-Up and Diet Sunkist Orange, respectively.

Citrate is also present in lemon juice; interestingly, both sodas mentioned by name are citrus based.

While no one is suggesting that diet soda could be an effective treatment for kidney stones, researchers do think that the occasional diet soda could actually be beneficial in preventing the development of kidney stones.

People who suffer from kidney stones but who deliberately avoid carbonated beverages may want to indulge in the occasional diet soda.

Dehydration is a common contributor to the development of kidney stones. If you suffer from kidney stones, make sure to remain hydrated, and do not substitute diet soda for the water you should be drinking.

Lemonade made with real lemons can be a healthy beverage choice for kidney stone sufferers as long as you avoid consuming excessive sugar. Avoiding salty foods and excessive calcium is also recommended.

You may not be able to tell if your child has autism when they are in the first few months of life.

Children with autism can start out with the usual childhood development and then all of sudden begin to lose that development.

It is hard to understand why this happens and what causes it. If you suspect your child has autism then you will be able to have them tested as early as 2 years old.

Your physician will be able to do the testing for autism.

They can also refer you to an intervention center that can help you with all of the aspects of dealing with disorder.

Lack of Behaviors

There are several symptoms of autism. If your baby does not make baby noises by 12 months old they could have autism. Most babies laugh and coo in their early months.

Cooing and laughing is normal behavior for infants. Another thing to look for in your child is if they have no interest in waving goodbye.

Usually a small baby can be taught to wave at their family and friends. This becomes a game to them, and is not a hard thing for them to do.

Metro sexual is a common phrase that is becoming even more common with the American public as young and old men are much more concerned about their overall appearance than in the past.

However, according to a new survey by the British Government for Men’s Health Week, this additional touch of vanity may not be a bad thing as it may help men take better care of their appearance as they grow more fearful of growing fat possibly also influencing them to reduce the amount of alcohol they consume.

This is a piece of good news given that the survey results were collected and analyzed after another disturbing report was released that stated men are more likely to develop cancer than women by a factor of 16%. Even worse, men who are diagnosed with cancer are 40% more likely to die from its effects in comparison to women.

Professor David Forman, a researcher with the National Cancer Intelligence Network stated that there is no biological reason that points to why men have an increased risk of death associated to cancer which leads the report analyzers to attribute it to the common male tendency to avoid the doctor and resist following instructions for their own health that do not fit into their comfortable lifestyle.

In the growing concern over the spread of H1N1A flu, there has been much discussion of the antiviral medications Tamiflu and Relenza.

Both seem to be effective against the current strain.

However, for these medications to remain effective, they must be used properly.

This means using these medications only when appropriate, and according to the proper dosing schedule.

To do otherwise may result in the development of strains of the flu which are resistant to these medications.

The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) recommends that any person who is suspected to have an H1N1A infection should receive one of these antiviral medications to help reduce the severity and duration of the flu.

They also recommend that people who are at high risk for catching this flu, primarily because they have been in close contact with someone who has this flu, use one of these antiviral medications.

Health care workers who are at high risk of developing complications from this flu, and who work with patients in whom this flu has been confirmed should consider taking these antiviral according to the CDC.

Do you deal with pain on a daily basis? Does it seem like there is no relief or hope in sight for treating your condition? The unfortunate truth is that many people live with pain on a daily basis.

In some cases the pain is caused by a medical condition that currently has no cure or treatment.

However, for some people pain may be due to injury or disability. In either case, there is a new treatment option available for successful pain management. Cognitive Behavior Therapy is a new way of learning to cope with pain, and reducing the severity of the pain experienced.

What Is Cognitive Behavior Therapy?

Cognitive behavior therapy is a program that teaches your body to better deal with the pain you experience. Specific techniques are used to reduce the stress and tension that can make your pain worsen.

It is now understood that the way you react to the pain can actually make it worsen or lessen. For example, if you are used to your pain quickly becoming severe and unbearable you may stress out at the first sign of pain and become tense in anticipation.

A popular advanced rheumatoid arthritis drug known as rituximab, but commonly referred to as MabThera could save thousands of people from the debilitating effects of Rheumatoid arthritis, RA, as well as disability if it was administered during the early stages of the disease instead of just in the end stage according to new trials of the popular drug.

Currently, the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence in the UK where the trials were conducted states that MabThera should only be used if other TNF treatments have failed to produce results, but the study results prove different.

The trials included 775 patients who suffered from early stages of RA and showed that after a year of use of mabThera along with the normal course of treatment they not only experienced fewer symptoms but experienced less joint damage (almost none) compared to those who are treated with TNF drugs alone.

Among the test study group, 70% of those included did not develop any joint damage after the first twelve months of the treatment course was completed and after six months the damage almost had stopped completely.

Kidney dialysis is very hard on the veins of the patient.

Most patients need a shunt: a blood vessel especially strengthened to withstand the repeated connections to the dialysis machine.

When the patient doesn’t have an appropriate blood vessel, a plastic material is used. These plastic shunts do not last well, frequently becoming infected and inflamed.

What if it were possible to grow a new artificial vessel, one from the patient’s own cells?

Promising research indicates scientists may be able to do just that in the future. So far they have grown new, artificial blood vessels for 10 patients, and preliminary results are promising.

The process of growing an artificial blood vessel takes about 6 months, and uses cells from the skin on the patient’s hand.

Artificial blood vessels would not only be useful for dialysis patients, but also for patients who need coronary artery bypass surgery or other similar surgical procedures.

The artificial blood vessels are expensive, costing as much as $20,000. A plastic shunt can be purchased for about $3,000.

However, if an artificial blood vessel lasts longer than a plastic shunt and does not require frequent replacement, or cause infection and inflammation, the cost may not remain an issue.