Is it safe to use lower blood counts (haemoglobin levels) as a trigger for blood transfusion in order to give fewer blood transfusions?
Blood transfusions are a very common medical procedure, and it ’s important to balance the potential benefits and harms. In December 2021, Jeffrey Carson from Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, in New Brunswick in the USA, and colleagues updated the Cochrane Review of research comparing different triggers for transfusing red blood cells and we asked him to tell us more about the importance of the review and its findings. (Source: Podcasts from The Cochrane Library)
Source: Podcasts from The Cochrane Library - January 31, 2022 Category: General Medicine Authors: Cochrane Source Type: podcasts
Omega-3 fatty acids for depression in adults
Among the many Cochrane reviews of possible treatments for depression, the one looking at the effects of omega-3 fatty acids was updated in November 2021. Here ’s lead author, Katherine Appleton from Bournemouth University in the UK to tell us about the update and the latest evidence. (Source: Podcasts from The Cochrane Library)
Source: Podcasts from The Cochrane Library - January 27, 2022 Category: General Medicine Authors: Cochrane Source Type: podcasts
Paying for performance to improve the delivery of healthcare services in low- and middle-income countries
Alongside the thousands of Cochrane Reviews of the effects of healthcare interventions, there are many that look at how to organise and deliver health care. One of these, on the use of a strategy called “paying for performance” was updated in May 2021. Here's one of the authors, Sophie Witter from Queen Margaret University in Edinburgh in Scotland, to tell us about the strategy and its effectiveness. (Source: Podcasts from The Cochrane Library)
Source: Podcasts from The Cochrane Library - January 25, 2022 Category: General Medicine Authors: Cochrane Source Type: podcasts
Which treatments are best for symptoms in COVID-19 patients at the end of life?
Cochrane is producing a series of reviews to help in the response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Among these, our systematic review of interventions for palliative symptom control in people dying of COVID-19 was published in August 2021. In this podcast, Claire Iannizzi speaks with the lead author, Marike Andreas, both from the University Hospital Cologne in Germany, about the review ’s findings. (Source: Podcasts from The Cochrane Library)
Source: Podcasts from The Cochrane Library - January 21, 2022 Category: General Medicine Authors: Cochrane Source Type: podcasts
Are corticosteroids (anti-inflammatory medicines) given orally or by injection an effective treatment for people with COVID-19?
Cochrane has produced several reviews to help decision makers respond to the COVID-19 pandemic. In August 2021, we published the first version of a living systematic review on systemic corticosteroids and, in this podcast, the first authors, Mirko Griesel of the University of Leipzig Medical Center and Carina Wagner of the University Hospital in Cologne, Germany, talk about the evidence they ’ve found and the potential effects of these drugs. (Source: Podcasts from The Cochrane Library)
Source: Podcasts from The Cochrane Library - January 12, 2022 Category: General Medicine Authors: Cochrane Source Type: podcasts
The effects of primary-level workers on people with mental disorders and distress in low- and middle-income countries
In many settings where access to health care is limited, governments are looking for effective and efficient ways to deliver routine health services. To help with this, the Cochrane EPOC Group is producing a series of reviews on task shifting the delivery of care to healthcare providers with lower levels of training. In August 2021, they published an update to the 2013 Cochrane Review of the effects of engaging community ‐based primary-level workers in helping people with mental health disorders or distress in low and middle-income countries. We asked one of the main authors, Weng Yee Chin from the University of Hong Kon...
Source: Podcasts from The Cochrane Library - November 30, 2021 Category: General Medicine Authors: Cochrane Source Type: podcasts
Interventions for preventing weight gain after smoking cessation
There are many Cochrane Reviews of ways to help smokers to quit. One of these, on research into interventions that might help in reducing any subsequent weight gain was updated in October 2021. Annika Theodoulou from the University of Oxford in the UK worked on the update and tells us what they found in this podcast. (Source: Podcasts from The Cochrane Library)
Source: Podcasts from The Cochrane Library - November 29, 2021 Category: General Medicine Authors: Cochrane Source Type: podcasts
Can music interventions benefit people with cancer?
Music therapy is used for a variety of conditions and several Cochrane Reviews examine its effects. A team of music therapists with expertise in the use of music therapy with medical patients updated their review for cancer patients in October 2021. Joke Bradt from the department of Creative Arts Therapies at Drexel University in Philadelphia, USA tells us what they found in this Evidence Pod. She conducted the review with Cheryl Dileo from Temple University in Philadelphia, Katherine Myers-Coffman from Molloy College in Rockville Center, and Jacelyn Biondo, postdoctoral fellow in the department of Creative Arts Therapies ...
Source: Podcasts from The Cochrane Library - November 29, 2021 Category: General Medicine Authors: Cochrane Source Type: podcasts
Exercise for treatment of chronic low back pain
Chronic low back pain is a very common health problem and there are many relevant reviews in the Cochrane Library. A new review, of nearly 250 studies of the effects of exercise, was added to the Library in September 2021. Toby Lasserson, Deputy Editor in Chief of the Library spoke with lead author, Jill Hayden from Dalhousie University in Halifax, Canada about the review and its findings. (Source: Podcasts from The Cochrane Library)
Source: Podcasts from The Cochrane Library - November 29, 2021 Category: General Medicine Authors: Cochrane Source Type: podcasts
Remdesivir to treat people with COVID-19
Cochrane is producing a series of living reviews relevant to the COVID-19 pandemic and, in August 2021, we published the first version of our review on remdesivir. We asked one of the authors, Felicitas Grundeis from the University of Leipzig Medical Center in Germany to tell us about the need for the review and its results. (Source: Podcasts from The Cochrane Library)
Source: Podcasts from The Cochrane Library - November 29, 2021 Category: General Medicine Authors: Cochrane Source Type: podcasts
CAR T-cell therapy for people with diffuse large B-cell lymphoma which returns after treatment or no longer responds to treatment
Diffuse large B-cell lymphoma is a fast-growing cancer of the lymphatic system. A new Cochrane Review from September 2021 looks at the evidence on the effects of one treatment, chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapy for people whose disease relapses or does not respond to other treatments. We asked the lead author, Moritz Ernst from the Faculty of Medicine and University Hospital Cologne in Germany to tell us what they found. (Source: Podcasts from The Cochrane Library)
Source: Podcasts from The Cochrane Library - November 29, 2021 Category: General Medicine Authors: Cochrane Source Type: podcasts
Are laboratory-made, COVID-19-specific monoclonal antibodies an effective treatment for COVID-19?
Cochrane is producing a series of reviews to help decision makers respond to the COVID-19 pandemic. In September 2021, we published the first version of a Living Systematic Review on the effects of monoclonal antibodies for treating COVID-19 and in this podcast we speak to Nina Kreuzberger one of the lead authors, about the review, which was initiated in the Germany-wide joint projects "COVIM" and "CEOsys" and funded by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research of Germany. (Source: Podcasts from The Cochrane Library)
Source: Podcasts from The Cochrane Library - September 22, 2021 Category: General Medicine Authors: Cochrane Source Type: podcasts
Ivermectin for preventing and treating COVID-19
Cochrane is producing a series of reviews relevant to the COVID-19 pandemic. In July 2021, we published the first version of our review on the effects of ivermectin for the prevention and treatment of COVID-19, in a collaboration between Cochrane's Infectious Diseases and Haematological Malignancy Groups. We asked one of the authors, Maria Popp from University Hospital Wuerzburg in Germany, to tell us about their findings. (Source: Podcasts from The Cochrane Library)
Source: Podcasts from The Cochrane Library - August 17, 2021 Category: General Medicine Authors: Cochrane Source Type: podcasts
