The Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews – Issue 2 2011

Abstract

Journal of Evidence-Based MedicineVolume 4, Issue 1 p. 53-54 Free Access The Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews – Issue 2 2011 First published: 28 January 2011 https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1756-5391.2011.01114.xAboutSectionsPDF ToolsRequest permissionExport citationAdd to favoritesTrack citation ShareShare Give accessShare full text accessShare full-text accessPlease review our Terms and Conditions of Use and check box below to share full-text version of article.I have read and accept the Wiley Online Library Terms and Conditions of UseShareable LinkUse the link below to share a full-text version of this article with your friends and colleagues. Learn more.Copy URL Share a linkShare onFacebookTwitterLinked InRedditWechat The second issue of the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews (CDSR) for 2011 was published in February but we begin by reflecting briefly on last year, when the CDSR moved from a quarterly to a monthly publication, During 2010, 449 Cochrane reviews were published in full for the first time, and 558 were updated. The evidence in a fifth of these updates changed so substantively that the conclusions of the review had to be revised. The potential future growth of CDSR is also clear from the fact that 632 protocols for ongoing Cochrane reviews were added during the year. CDSR has now passed through the landmark of 4500 full Cochrane reviews since it first appeared in 1995, and should see the 5000th full review within a year. Issue 2 of 2011 takes us one step closer to that with the addition of another 29 full Cochrane reviews and substantial changes to the conclusions of six existing reviews. A further 43 reviews have been brought up to date. The entire collection is available in full at http://www.TheCochraneLibrary.com. Each of the Cochrane reviews includes information on the methods used, details of the eligible research, results of the included studies and the conclusions of the Cochrane researchers. The new and updated reviews cover a wide range of health issues and a wide variety of interventions. Among them are several showing the benefits of drugs such as nebulized epinephrine for croup in children (1), levodopa for restless legs syndrome (2) and short- and intermediate-term creatine treatment to improve muscle strength in people with muscular dystrophies (3). Another new review found that adding radiotherapy to chemotherapy improves tumour control and overall survival in patients with early stage Hodgkin lymphoma (4). There is also a new review from the recently established Cochrane Occupational Safety and Health Group examining the evidence on a variety of interventions to help cancer patients return to work (5). Some of the reviews highlight the lack of robust evidence to support certain practices. For example, a new review finds no firm, published evidence to support the widely held opinion that eating a low-fat diet lowers cholesterol (6), another concludes that high-quality, large-scale randomised trials are needed if the routine use of edaravone is to be recommended for patients with acute intracerebral haemorrhage (7) and a substantively updated review finds that despite growing to 22 studies its conclusions are that there is not enough evidence to provide a reliable assessment of the efficacy of herbal treatment for rheumatoid arthritis (8). The new issue of CDSR is accompanied by a collection of podcasts (http://www.cochrane.org/podcasts) and the Cochrane Journal Club continues to grow with recent topics including probiotics for acute infectious diarrhoea (9) and vitamin D to improve bone mineral density in children (10). The Journal Club resources include a specially prepared introductory summary, slideshow, author profile, collection of discussion points and related articles. They are available free at http://www.CochraneJournalClub.com. In the following articles, two Cochrane authors who prepared podcasts for earlier issues of The Cochrane Library tell us in their own words about their reviews of strategies to expand health insurance coverage in children (11) and quinine to prevent muscle cramps (12). References 1 Bjornson C, Russell KF, Vandermeer B, Durec T, Klassen TP, Johnson DW. Nebulized epinephrine for croup in children. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews 2011, Issue 2. Art. No.: CD006619. Wiley Online LibraryWeb of Science®Google Scholar 2 Scholz H, Trenkwalder C, Kohnen R, Riemann D, Kriston L, Hornyak M. Levodopa for restless legs syndrome. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews 2011, Issue 2. Art. No.: CD005504. Wiley Online LibraryWeb of Science®Google Scholar 3 Kley RA, Tarnopolsky MA, Vorgerd M. Creatine for treating muscle disorders. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews 2011, Issue 2. Art. No.: CD004760. Wiley Online LibraryWeb of Science®Google Scholar 4 Herbst C, Rehan FA, Skoetz N, Bohlius J, Brillant C, Schulz H, Monsef I, Specht L, Engert A. Chemotherapy alone versus chemotherapy plus radiotherapy for early stage Hodgkin lymphoma. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews 2011, Issue 2. Art. No.: CD007110. Wiley Online LibraryWeb of Science®Google Scholar 5 de Boer AGEM, Taskila T, Tamminga SJ, Frings-Dresen MHW, Feuerstein M, Verbeek JH. Interventions to enhance return-to-work for cancer patients. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews 2011, Issue 2. Art. No.: CD007569. Web of Science®Google Scholar 6 Smart NA, Marshall BJ, Daley M, Boulos E, Windus J, Baker N, Kwok N. Low-fat diets for acquired hypercholesterolaemia. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews 2011, Issue 2. Art. No.: CD007957. Wiley Online LibraryWeb of Science®Google Scholar 7 Yang J, Liu M, Zhou J, Zhang S, Lin S, Zhao H. Edaravone for acute intracerebral haemorrhage. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews 2011, Issue 2. Art. No.:CD007755. Wiley Online LibraryWeb of Science®Google Scholar 8 Cameron M, Gagnier JJ, Chrubasik S. Herbal therapy for treating rheumatoid arthritis. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews 2011, Issue 2. Art. No.: CD002948. Wiley Online LibraryWeb of Science®Google Scholar 9 Allen SJ, Martinez EG, Gregorio GV, Dans LF. Probiotics for treating acute infectious diarrhoea. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews 2010, Issue 11. Art. No.: CD003048. Wiley Online LibraryWeb of Science®Google Scholar 10 Winzenberg TM, Powell S, Shaw KA, Jones G. Vitamin D supplementation for improving bone mineral density in children. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews 2010, Issue 10. Art. No.: CD006944. Wiley Online LibraryWeb of Science®Google Scholar 11 Meng Q, Yuan B, Jia L, Wang J, Garner P. Outreach strategies for expanding health insurance coverage in children. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews 2010, Issue 8. Art. No.: CD008194. PubMedWeb of Science®Google Scholar 12 El-Tawil S, Al Musa T, Valli H, Lunn MPT, El-Tawil T, Weber M. Quinine for muscle cramps. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews 2010, Issue 12. Art. No.: CD005044. Wiley Online LibraryWeb of Science®Google Scholar Volume4, Issue1February 2011Pages 53-54 ReferencesRelatedInformation