Podcasts from The Cochrane Library

Improving the implementation of school-based policies and practices to improve student health

1 day 2 hours ago

Helping young people develop a healthy lifestyle could have long term implications for their health and wellbeing. In this podcast, Mia Parkinson, Cochrane Communications Officer, talks with Daniel Lee from the University of Newcastle in Callaghan, Australia, about the December 2024 update of the Cochrane review of ways to enhance the implementation of school-based policies or practices to improve diet and physical activity and reduce obesity, and the use of tobacco and alcohol.

Healthcare workers' perceptions and experiences of communicating with older adults about vaccination

2 days 3 hours ago

Infectious diseases are a major cause of illness and death among older adults. Vaccines can prevent some of these diseases but the uptake of vaccination among older adults varies across settings and groups. Communication with their healthcare worker can help older people makes decisions about vaccination and this is explored in the July 2021 Cochrane qualitative evidence synthesis of healthcare workers’ perceptions and experiences of communicating with people over 50 about vaccination. In this podcast, two authors of this synthesis, Simon Lewin from the Norwegian Institute of Public Health and the Norwegian University of Science and Technology, and Claire Glenton from the Western Norway University of Applied Sciences, discuss why they did the review and what they found.

What are the benefits and risks of corticosteroids in adults undergoing heart surgery?

3 days ago

The Cochrane Heart Group’s reviews cover a very wide range of topics, including several relevant to cardiac surgery. In March 2024, their review of using prophylactic corticosteroids for cardiopulmonary bypass was updated. In this podcast, Carla Lucarelli from Imperial College London speaks with new lead author, Riccardo Abbasciano from the University of Leicester in the UK about this latest version of the review.

What are the benefits and risks of exercise-based cardiac rehabilitation for heart failure?

1 week 4 days ago

Cochrane Reviews cover a very wide range of interventions for people with heart disease. One of these looks at exercise-based rehabilitation for patients with heart failure and it was updated for the fourth time in March 2024. Two of the authors, Rod Taylor and Cal Molloy from the University of Glasgow in the UK, discuss the latest findings in this podcast.

Training health workers in breast examination for early detection of breast cancer in low- and middle-income countries

1 week 4 days ago

Cochrane Breast Cancer has produced several reviews relevant to the detection of breast cancer. In April 2023, these were added to with a new review of training health workers in low- and middle-income countries to do breast examinations. Here is the lead author, Shahin Sayed from the Aga Khan University in Nairobi Kenya, to tell us about the importance of the review and its findings.

Do biosimilar monoclonal antibodies perform as well as the original medicine for cancer treatment?

2 weeks 1 day ago

Alongside Cochrane Reviews of the effects of original drugs for the treatment of some diseases, reviews are starting to appear of the effects of biosimilars for these drugs. In this podcast, Roses Parker, Cochrane’s Commissioning Editor tells us about the evidence in one of these reviews, published in November 2024, which considers biosimilar monoclonal antibodies for the treatment of patients with cancer.

What are the benefits and risks of different perineal techniques during the second stage of labour for preventing post-birth injury?

2 weeks 4 days ago

Globally, postpartum haemorrhage is responsible for a quarter of maternal deaths after childbirth. Tears of the perineum, which are common in vaginal births, are a major contributor to this excessive blood loss, and a variety of techniques are used to try to prevent them. The effects of these interventions are reviewed in a new Cochrane Review published in October 2024 and two of the authors, Tilly Fox and Kerry Dwan from The Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine in the UK, talk about the findings in this podcast.

What are the benefits and risks of using tests for lung maturation to assess if preterm newborns need to receive surfactant therapy to improve lung function?

3 weeks ago

I'm pleased to welcome you to this podcast for a crucial topic in the care of preterm babies: the use of surfactant therapy guided by tests of their lung function. Practice is evolving in this area, and we're here to discuss the latest evidence. Three guests are joining me today, Greta Sibrecht and Franek Borys, authors of the October 2023 Cochrane review, and, later, Anna Lavizzari, lead investigator for one of the ongoing studies.

What are the benefits and harms of interventions to increase eating of fruit and vegetables among children aged five years and under?

1 month ago

Helping people develop good eating habits early in life could have long term implications for their health and wellbeing. In this podcast, Mia Parkinson, Cochrane Communications Officer, talks with Rebecca Hodder from the University of Newcastle in Callaghan, Australia, lead author of the Cochrane review of programs to increase eating of fruit and vegetables among children aged 5 years and under, the latest version of which was published in September 2024.

In women who have had one or both breasts removed, which breast reconstruction technique leads to better quality of life: use of implants or use of the woman's own tissue?

1 month 1 week ago

Women undergoing mastectomy for breast cancer treatment or risk reduction can choose among different options for breast reconstruction. In this podcast, the lead author of a new Cochrane review from October 2024, Nicola Rocco, breast oncoplastic surgeon and assistant professor at the University Hospital Federico II of Naples (Italy) discusses its findings for the comparison of implants and autologous tissue for breast reconstruction following mastectomy, with one of his c0-authors, Corrado Rispoli, from Monaldi Hospital in Naples.

Is artificial intelligence (AI) better than humans for diagnosing the eye condition 'exudative age-related macular degeneration'?

1 month 1 week ago

Age-related macular degeneration is a progressive, sight-threatening disease affecting the retina at the back of the eye. There are several Cochrane Reviews of its treatment and, in October 2024 we published a new review of the use of artificial intelligence for its diagnosis. Here’s the review’s first author, Chaerim Kang from Brown University in the USA, to tell us more.

Can psychological or educational interventions (or combinations of both) reduce falls in older adults who live at home?

1 month 1 week ago

One of our most highly cited and largest reviews, published in 2012, looks at interventions for preventing falls in older people living in the community. During its updating, it’s being split into a series of smaller reviews focused on specific interventions. In this podcast, two authors, Amy Drahota and Heather Mackenzie from the Universities of Portsmouth and Southampton in the UK, talk about the update for the studies of psychological and educational interventions, which was published in October 2024.

What are the benefits and risks of treating premenstrual syndrome and premenstrual dysphoric disorder with selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors?

2 months ago

In August 2024, we published the latest update of the Cochrane Review of the effect of selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors on women with premenstrual syndrome and premenstrual dysphoric disorder. In this podcast, two of the authors, Jeppe Bennekou Schroll and Cecilie Jespersen, both from Cochrane Denmark, talk about the need for the review and its latest findings. 

Drugs to prevent malaria in HIV-positive pregnant women

2 months 2 weeks ago

Some Cochrane Reviews cut across more than one Cochrane Group. This is the case with the September 2024 update of the review of interventions for malaria and HIV in pregnancy. Here are two of the authors, Clara Pons-Duran and Raquel González from Barcelona University in Spain to tell us about the importance of the review and its findings.

Which approaches help with recovery after a broken ankle in adults?

2 months 2 weeks ago

Ankle fractures are one of the most common fractures of the lower limb and it’s important to have evidence on how to help people recover from them. There’s been a Cochrane Review of this since 2008 and the most recent update was published in September 2024. In this podcast, Sophie Degraeve from Symmetron, talks with new author, Chris Bretherton from the Blizard Institute at Queen Mary University of London in the UK, about the latest findings.

Psychedelic-assisted therapy for treating anxiety, depression and existential distress in people with life-threatening diseases

2 months 3 weeks ago

Several Cochrane Reviews look at interventions for palliative care. These were added to in September 2024 with the publication of a new review of psychedelic-assisted therapy. In this podcast, two of the authors, Sivan Schipper from Spital Uster and Christopher Boehlke from University Hospital Basel both in Switzerland, tell us about the treatment and the review’s findings.

Does vitamin D supplementation benefit, harm, or have no effects on pregnant women or their babies?

2 months 3 weeks ago

The hundreds of reviews from the Cochrane Pregnancy and Childbirth Group include several of vitamin supplementation during pregnancy. One of these looks at Vitamin D and its third update was published in July 2024. We asked one of the authors, Lia Kostiuk, a board-certified Preventive Medicine physician in the USA to tell us about the latest findings in this podcast.

Medicines to reduce pain and discomfort during spinal tap in newborns

3 months ago

The Cochrane Neonatal Group produces and updates Cochrane Reviews to provide comprehensive coverage of the evidence on the care of babies and infants. In this podcast, we present an important topic in neonatal care: the management of pain and discomfort during spinal taps in newborns, for which a new Cochrane review was published in September 2023. In this podcast, two of the authors talk about the findings. Ehsan Hedayati and Sara Pessano, welcome to the podcast.

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2 hours 30 minutes ago
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