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 July 2023. 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. Here's Laurence to begin.

Age-related macular degeneration is a progressive and sight-threatening disease affecting the central area of the retina at the back of the eye. There are Cochrane Reviews of the use of antioxidant vitamin and mineral supplements to prevent or slow down progression of the disease and the latter was updated in September 2023. Here's lead author, Jenny Evans from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine in the UK to tell us about the latest evidence.

Hypertrophic and keloid scars are common skin conditions resulting from abnormal wound healing. One possible treatment involves the use of a laser and a new Cochrane Review of the evidence was published in September 2022. We asked one of the authors, Ana Carolina Nunes from Cochrane Brazil in Sao Paolo, to tell us more in this podcast.

The many Cochrane Reviews related to the use of insulin for people with diabetes were added to in November 2023 with a new review of the thermal stability and storage of human insulin. Here's Bernd Richter, lead author and Emeritus Coordinating Editor of the Cochrane Metabolic and Endocrine Disorders Group, based in Düsseldorf, Germany, to tell us what they found.

An important problem for babies who are born too early is a condition called apnea and a new Cochrane review published in October 2023 brings together the evidence on the effects of a class of drugs called methylxanthines. We asked one of the authors, Matteo Bruschettini from Cochrane Sweden, to tell us about the review's findings in this podcast and he used an AI voice from elevenlabs.io to make the recording.

Cochrane Work has produced many systematic reviews of interventions that might help workers stay safe in the workplace. In this podcast, Roos Schelvis, senior researcher in mental health and work and Sietske Tamminga, assistant professor, both from Amsterdam University Medical Center in the Netherlands discuss the May 2023 update of one of these, which looks at the effects of individual-level stress interventions for healthcare workers.

Clear communication with the public is a key part of the response to disasters and health emergencies, and the October 2023 update of a rapid review from 2020 investigates this in relation to measures to help to prevent and control COVID-19. Here's lead author Rebecca Ryan from La Trobe University in Australia to tell us more.

The Cochrane Developmental, Psychosocial and Learning Problems Group produced several reviews relevant to the treatment of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and the update for one of these, investigating the drug methylphenidate, was published in March 2023. Here's one of the authors, Maja Storm from the Psychiatric Research Unit, Region Zealand in Denmark, to tell us about the latest evidence.

Carpal tunnel syndrome is a common condition that affects people worldwide. There are several Cochrane reviews and these were added to in February 2023 with a new review of corticosteroid injections. Here's lead author, Nigel Ashworth from the University of Alberta in Canada, to tell us about the findings.

For some health conditions, there are multiple Cochrane reviews, each looking at the effects of a different intervention. Overviews of reviews are intended to help users to consider all interventions together and one of these overviews, for treating pain and disability in adults with complex regional pain syndrome was updated in June 2023. Here's lead author, Michael Ferraro from Neuroscience Research Australia, to describe the findings.

Alongside their reviews on treatments for chronic kidney disease, the Cochrane Kidney and Transplant Group produce reviews for interventions that might help with its consequences. These were added to in August 2023 with a new review of ways to help manage the fatigue experienced by people requiring dialysis. Here's lead author, Patrizia Natale from the University of Sydney in Australia, to tell us about the review.

People with diabetes face additional challenges when they need treatments, such as surgery, for other conditions. In the August 2023 update to the Cochrane review, reviewers examined whether perioperative glycaemic control might help with this, and we asked joint lead author, Dídac Mauricio from the CIBER of Diabetes and Associated Metabolic Disease in Barcelona Spain to tell us more in this podcast.

The Cochrane Pain, Palliative and Supportive Care Group has produced more than 300 reviews and added to these in August 2023 with a review of remotely-delivered psychological therapies for chronic pain in adults. Here's one of the authors, Geoff Duggan formerly from the Bath Centre for Pain Services in the UK, to tell us about the importance of the review and its findings.

There are several Cochrane Reviews of methods to ensure that blood transfusions are used effectively and efficiently, and that donated blood remains available for use in emergency situations. One of the first of these reviews looked at the evidence on a technique called cell salvage. It was first published in October 2003 and the fourth update appeared in September 2023. We asked new lead author, Louise Geneen from NHS Blood and Transplant based in Oxford UK, to tell us more about the technique and the latest findings of the review.

The Cochrane Breast Cancer Group have published reviews on more than 80 topics, and these were added to in September 2023 with a review of platinum-based chemotherapy for women with early stage triple negative breast cancer. In this podcast, Rachel Dear, co-author and breast cancer oncologist based in Sydney, talks with lead author, Sofia Mason from the Garvan Institute of Medical Research in Darlinghurst Australia about the findings.

In this podcast, we're delving into the topic of "Healthy Eating Interventions in Early Childhood Education and Care Settings", which is especially important because helping children to develop healthy eating habits early on can greatly influence their dietary choices later in life. Here’s one of the authors, Melanie Lum, talking with lead author, Serene Yoong from Deakin University in Australia about the June 2023 Cochrane review of 52 randomized trials.

Effective management of a patient's pain is a key part of cancer care and various medicines have been suggested to help with this. These include cannabis-based medicines and medical cannabis, and in June 2023, we published a new Cochrane review of their effects. Here's one of the authors, Andrew Moore, a retired scientist formerly at the University of Oxford speaking from the depths of Devon in the UK, to tell us about the review's findings.

Several Cochrane reviews look at the evidence on interventions that might be used for older people in long-term care settings and these include reviews on ways to prevent or reduce the use of interventions that might do more harm than good. Among these, the review of interventions for preventing and reducing the use of physical restraints was updated in July 2023. We asked lead author, Ralph Möhler of the University Hospital Düsseldorf in Germany, to tell us about physical restraints and the latest findings of the review in this podcast.

Diabetic macular oedema is a common complication of diabetes, in which damage to the blood vessels at the back of the eye leads to swelling. Lucentis, Eylea and Avastin are three antiangiogenic drugs that can be injected into the eye to treat these blood vessels and reduce the swelling; and drugs with longer lasting effects have recently become available, such as Vabysmo and Beovue. In June 2023, Katie Curran from Queen's University Belfast in the UK and colleagues, updated their Cochrane review of these drugs and used a network meta-analysis to compare their effects. Here’s Katie to tell us more.

The Cochrane Tobacco Addiction Group has produced many reviews of the role of nicotine replacement therapy in smoking cessation and, in June 2023, they updated their review of different doses, durations and modes of delivery. Here's first author, Annika Theodoulou from the Centre for Evidence-based Medicine at the University of Oxford in the UK to tell us about the latest findings.