The Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews – Issue 82012

As the number of Cochrane Reviews continues to grow awayfrom the 5,000th that was published earlier this year, a fur-ther 37 reviews have appeared in full for the first time inthe eighth issue of The Cochrane Library for 2012. Along-side these, 43 existing reviews were updated, ten of whichchanged so substantially that their conclusions have been re-vised. Full information on all full Cochrane Reviews, and theprotocols for more than 2,200 reviews that are at earlier stagesof preparation, are available in The Cochrane Library. This ispublished on the internet, at www.TheCochraneLibrary.com.These peer-reviewed documents contain complete details onthe conduct of the review, including the objectives and eligi-bility criteria, and the methods to identify studies, appraisetheir quality and extract and analyze their results. The fullreviews also contain information on the characteristics ofeach included study, the results of any meta-analyses and theconclusions of the Cochrane researchers on the implicationsfor practice and for research of their findings.

The new and updated Cochrane Reviews this month in-clude the usual wide variety of interventions within andacross areas of health and health care. For instance, threenew reviews from the Cochrane Hypertension Review Grouplook at the effects of cocoa on blood pressure (1), the use ofpharmacotherapy for mild hypertension (2) and garlic to pre-vent cardiovascular morbidity and mortality in hypertensivepatients (3). There is also a pair of reviews on the effectsof exercise on patients receiving active treatment for can-cer (4) and on cancer survivors who have completed theirtreatments (5). In another new review, research involvingmore than 4,000 participants is brought together to deter-mine the effects of interactive computer-based interventionson weight loss or weight maintenance in overweight or obesepeople (6).

Among the updated reviews, the latest evidence supportsthe use of psychological therapies for people with border-line personality disorder (7), suggests that neoadujuvantchemotherapy might be a suitable alternative to surgery forinitial treatment in some women with advanced ovarian can-cer (8) and examines the role of physiotherapy in Parkinson’sdisease (9).

The authors of some of these reviews have preparedshort podcasts describing their research and findings.These are available free from The Cochrane Collabora-tion’s website (www.cochrane.org/podcasts) and join morethan 250 existing Evidence Pods. The Cochrane Journal

Club collection of free materials is also growing (www.CochraneJournalClub.com), with recent highlights coveringomega 3 fatty acid for preventing cognitive decline and de-mentia (10) and the use of antipsychotic drugs as mainte-nance treatment for people with schizophrenia (11).

The authors who recorded three recent Evidence Pods,describe their Cochrane Reviews in the following sections,covering topics as diverse as treatments for female patternhair loss (12), pre-exposure prophylaxis to antiretrovirals forpreventing HIV infection in high-risk individuals (13), andthe use of electric fans during heatwaves (14).

1. Ried K, Sullivan TR, Fakler P, Frank OR, Stocks NP. Effect ofcocoa on blood pressure. Cochrane Database of SystematicReviews 2012, Issue 8. Art. No.: CD008893.

2. Diao D, Wright JM, Cundiff DK, Gueyffier F. Pharmacotherapyfor mild hypertension. Cochrane Database of SystematicReviews 2012, Issue 8. Art. No.: CD006742.

3. Stabler SN, Tejani AM, Huynh F, Fowkes C. Garlic for theprevention of cardiovascular morbidity and mortality inhypertensive patients. Cochrane Database of SystematicReviews 2012, Issue 8. Art. No.: CD007653.

4. Mishra SI, Scherer RW, Snyder C, Geigle PM, Berlanstein DR,Topaloglu O. Exercise interventions on health-related quality oflife for people with cancer during active treatment. CochraneDatabase of Systematic Reviews 2012, Issue 8. Art. No.:CD008465.

5. Mishra SI, Scherer RW, Geigle PM, Berlanstein DR, TopalogluO, Gotay CC, Snyder C. Exercise interventions on health-relatedquality of life for cancer survivors. Cochrane Database ofSystematic Reviews 2012, Issue 8. Art. No.: CD007566.

6. Wieland LS, Falzon L, Sciamanna CN, Trudeau KJ, BrodneyFolse S, Schwartz JE, Davidson KW. Interactive computer-basedinterventions for weight loss or weight maintenance inoverweight or obese people. Cochrane Database of SystematicReviews 2012, Issue 8. Art. No.: CD007675.

7. Stoffers JM, Vollm BA, Rucker G, Timmer A, Huband N, LiebK. Psychological therapies for people with borderlinepersonality disorder. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews2012, Issue 8. Art. No.: CD005652.

8. Morrison J, Haldar K, Kehoe S, Lawrie TA. Chemotherapyversus surgery for initial treatment in advanced ovarian epithelialcancer. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews 2012, Issue 8.Art. No.: CD005343.

9. Tomlinson CL, Patel S, Meek C, Clarke CE, Stowe R, Shah L,Sackley CM, Deane KHO, Herd CP, Wheatley K, Ives N.

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Physiotherapy versus placebo or no intervention in Parkinson’sdisease. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews 2012, Issue8. Art. No.: CD002817.

10. Sydenham E, Dangour AD, Lim W-S. Omega 3 fatty acid for theprevention of cognitive decline and dementia. CochraneDatabase of Systematic Reviews 2012, Issue 6. Art. No.:CD005379.

11. Leucht S, Tardy M, Komossa K, Heres S, Kissling W, Davis JM.Maintenance treatment with antipsychotic drugs forschizophrenia. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews 2012,Issue 5. Art. No.: CD008016.

12. van Zuuren EJ, Fedorowicz Z, Carter B, Andriolo RB, SchoonesJ. Interventions for female pattern hair loss. Cochrane Databaseof Systematic Reviews 2012, Issue 5. Art. No.: CD007628.

13. Okwundu CI, Uthman OA, Okoromah CAN. Antiretroviralpre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) for preventing HIV in high-riskindividuals. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews 2012,Issue 7. Art. No.: CD007189.

14. Gupta S, Carmichael C, Simpson C, Clarke MJ, Allen C, Gao Y,Chan EYY, Murray V. Electric fans for reducing adverse healthimpacts in heatwaves. Cochrane Database of SystematicReviews 2012, Issue 7. Art. No.: CD009888.

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