Podcasts From The Cochrane Library

In May 2022, Cochrane published the first version of an overview and network meta-analysis of interventions for heavy menstrual bleeding, which can affect 20% to 50% of people who menstruate during their reproductive years. There are a variety of treatments available, each with its pros and cons, and the best treatment is likely to depend on several factors, including age, desire to have children, personal preferences and medical history.

Insomnia affects many people and a wide range of approaches are taken to try to help with it. One of these involves listening to music and the relevant Cochrane Review was updated in August 2022. Here's lead author, Kira Vibe Jespersen from Aarhus University and The Royal Academy of Music Aarhus/Aalborg in Denmark to tell us about the importance of the review and what it found.

Cochrane has produced a series of reviews relevant to the COVID-19 pandemic and is keeping these up-to-date in light of new evidence. In November 2022, we published the second 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 in Germany, talk about the evidence they’ve found and the potential effects of these drugs.

The intravenous administration of fluids and drugs, and the drawing of blood samples requires the placing of a catheter or cannula into a vein using a needle in a procedure known as peripheral intravenous cannulation. There are different ways to guide the procedure and a new Cochrane Review from December 2022 looks at the effect of using ultrasound guidance. In this podcast, Edoardo Ostinelli from the University of Oxford talks with lead author Masafumi Tada from Kyoto University in Japan, about the review.

Low-back pain is a very common problem, and a variety of treatments have been assessed in Cochrane Reviews. In November 2022, we published an update of the 2017 Cochrane review of the effects of yoga for chronic, non-specific low-back pain. The review was led by Susan Wieland of the Cochrane Complementary Medicine Field in the USA, together with colleagues from Canada, Germany and the UK. Here’s another of the authors on the review, Shireen Harbin from the Institute for Work & Health in Toronto Canada to tell us about the latest findings.

Osteoarthritis is the commonest type of arthritis and there are Cochrane reviews for many interventions that might be used to treat it. These were added to in October 2022 with a new review of the effects of using adjunctive therapies along with land-based exercise therapy for osteoarthritis of the hip or knee. In this podcast, podcast editor Mike Clarke speaks with lead author Helen French from the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland, about the importance of the review and its findings.

Most Cochrane Reviews look at the effects of interventions on health, but a growing number provide evidence on how to diagnose a disease. In September 2022, one of these diagnostic test accuracy reviews was updated for a test used to detect tuberculosis in children. The lead author, Alex Kay (left), and co-author, Tara Ness, from the Texas Children’s Hospital in Houston in the USA, tell us about the importance of the review and its latest findings in this podcast.

Many people with heart or vascular problems also have high blood pressure, and the latest update of the Cochrane Review of using blood pressure targets in their treatment was published in November 2022. Here's lead author, Luis Carlos Saiz from the Navarre Health Service in Pamplona Spain, to tell us about the review and its latest findings.

Some patients who take pharmaceutical opioids to treat pain become dependent on them and might need to switch to medications such as opioid agonists. In September 2022, an updated Cochrane Review brought together the relevant evidence and, in this podcast, Addiction Psychiatrist Shalini Arunogiri from Monash University and Turning Point in Melbourne talks with lead author, Suzanne Nielsen (or Suzi) from the Monash Addiction Research Centre in Australia.

The Cochrane Skin Group has produced some of the largest Cochrane reviews, providing a “one stop shop” for people interested in a wide range of interventions for a particular skin condition. One such example is the review of systemic medicines to treat psoriasis, which was updated for the fourth time in May 2022. We asked two of the authors, Laurence Le Cleach, head of the French satellite of the Cochrane Skin group and dermatologist at Henri Mondor hospital, AP-HP in France and Emilie Sbidian, a dermatologist working at the same hospital, to describe the findings.

Several Cochrane Reviews evaluate treatments for sickle cell disease, which can cause a huge burden for patients and their families. The review on the effects of hydroxyurea was updated in September 2022 by Angela Rankine-Mullings from the Sickle Cell Unit, Caribbean Institute for Health Research at The University of the West Indies in Jamaica and Sarah Nevitt, from the Department of Health Data Science, University of Liverpool in UK. We asked Angela to outline the need for the review and its latest findings in this podcast.

Identifying ways to help people be physically active should help improve their health and well-being, and prevent premature deaths. There are several relevant Cochrane reviews and one published in September 2021 looks at school-based programs. Here's the review's first author, Sarah Neil-Sztramko, from McMaster University in Canada to tell us about the importance of the review and its findings.

Hundreds of Cochrane reviews have been published over the last 25 years relevant to the diagnosis and treatment of a wide range of cancers, including ovarian cancer. In a new review from July 2022, Clare Davenport, from the University of Birmingham in the UK, and colleagues examined the evidence on the use of multiple tests to detect it and she tells us what they found in this podcast.

Some new-born babies suffer from jaundice and there are several Cochrane reviews of possible ways to treat it, including the use of phototherapy. These reviews were added to in March 2022 with a new review of the effects of changing the baby’s position under the phototherapy. Lead author, Anu Thukral from the All India Institute of Medical Sciences tells us about the findings in this podcast.

The Cochrane Common Mental Disorders Group has published more than 200 reviews and, in May 2022, they added a new review of community‐based interventions for improving the mental health of refugee children and adolescents in high‐income countries. One of the authors, Noortje Uphoff who works with the Group at the University of York in the UK, tells us more in this podcast.

Cochrane has produced several systematic reviews of interventions that might help people suffering from anaemia. In this podcast, Claire Iannizzi talks with lead author Anne Adams, both from the University Hospital Cologne in Germany, about a review of intravenous, oral or no iron in combination with erythropoiesis-stimulating agents for cancer patients with anaemia, which was published for the first time in June 2022.

Several of the Cochrane reviews in our collection for COVID-19 relate to diagnosis and the second update for one of these, on the use of rapid point-of-care antigen tests was published in July 2022. Here's lead author Jacqueline Dinnes from the University of Birmingham in the UK to tell us what they found.

The Cochrane Methodology Review Group produces reviews that examine the methods used in research and, in April 2022, we published a new review of the effects of having different types of control group in trials among people with mental health disorders. Here's lead author, Erlend Faltinsen from Cochrane Denmark, to tell us about the review and its findings

The Cochrane Neonatal Group is one of the largest Cochrane groups, with more than 400 reviews published, many of which relate to the care of babies born before they reach full-term. These reviews were added to in April 2022 with a new review of the use of cyclo-oxygenase inhibitors and, in this podcast, one of the group’s researchers, Abbey MacLellan, talks with lead author Souvik Mitra, a neonatologist and clinical epidemiologist at Dalhousie University and IWK Health in Halifax Canada about this network meta-analysis.

Glaucoma is a common eye condition and a major cause of blindness. There are several Cochrane reviews of ways to treat it and these were added to in June 2022 with a new review of a class of drugs called rho kinase inhibitors. We asked lead author, Josefine Freiberg from the University of Copenhagen in Denmark to tell us about the evidence in this podcast.