Cochrane Library Podcasts

Several reviews from the Cochrane Pregnancy and Childbirth Group present evidence on ways to help mothers to breast feed their babies. In the latest version of one of these, in February 2017, Alison McFadden from the University of Dundee in Scotland and her co-authors present the latest evidence and we asked her to update us in this podcast.

Cochrane has several systematic reviews about the management of patients in intensive care units, covering a wide range of interventions, and the update of one of these in October 2016 brought together the latest evidence on the effects of oral hygiene care. Helen Worthington, one of the authors on the review and Co-ordinating Editor of the Cochrane Oral Health Group at the University of Manchester in the UK tells us more.

Antibiotics are a mainstay of hospital care, widely used to treat bacterial infections, such as pneumonia. However amidst increasing concerns about antibiotic resistance, it’s important to ensure that they are prescribed carefully. In February 2017, Peter Davey from the University of Dundee in the UK and colleagues updated their Cochrane Review of interventions to help with this and he tells us more in this podcast.

Aspirin is one of the most widely used medicines and there are Cochrane Reviews of its effects for a wide variety of conditions. One of these reviews examines its use in in vitro fertilisation and an update was published in November 2016. Lead author, Harry Siristatidis from the Assisted Reproduction Unit at Attikon University Hospital in Athens Greece brings us up to date in this podcast.

Several Cochrane Reviews examine surgical techniques to repair hip fractures, and alongside these are reviews of other aspects of the management of people who have broken a hip. For instance, an updated review from November 2016 looks at nutritional supplements in the aftercare of older people who have had a hip fracture, and one of the authors, Toby Smith from the University of East Anglia in the UK, tells us more in this podcast.

IgA nephropathy is a kidney condition, leading to kidney failure for many of those who are affected. About 10-20% of patients require dialysis or a kidney transplant within 10 years, and 30-40% within 20 years, from their disease onset. This long time between diagnosis and kidney failure makes it difficult to establish the most effective and safest treatment. In August 2015, Marinella Ruospo and her colleagues from Bari, Italy updated their Cochrane Review of immunosuppressive therapies and she tells us what they have found in this podcast.

Low-back pain is a very common problem, and a variety of treatments have been assessed in Cochrane Reviews. In January 2017, this collection was added to by Susan Wieland from the University of Maryland School of Medicine in the USA and colleagues, when we published their review of the effects of yoga for chronic, non-specific low-back pain. We asked Susan to tell us about the review and the implications of its findings.

The ear infection, acute otitis media, brings many children into contact with healthcare practitioners and finding ways to prevent it would have obvious benefits for the children, their families and the healthcare system. In August 2016, a group of researchers from Canada, led by Amir Azarpazhooh from the University of Toronto updated their Cochrane Review and he tells us what they found in this podcast.

Sickle cell disease is a lifelong, inherited disorder which can cause complications throughout an individual's life. In a new Cochrane Review from October 2016, Monika Asnani and colleagues from the Caribbean Institute for Health Research at the University of the West Indies in Kingston Jamaica bring together the evidence on ways to improve the knowledge of patients and their caregivers. She outlines their findings in this podcast.

One of the most widely used devices in medicine is the central venous catheter, allowing direct access to a patient’s blood stream. However, it can cause infections and the use of antiseptics on the skin is one way to minimise this risk. Nai Ming Lai from the School of Medicine in Taylor's University in Malaysia has worked with colleagues to examine the relevant evidence and led the Cochrane Review, published in July 2016.