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In the News

A New Cochrane Entity

We are very pleased to announce the official registration of the Réseau francophone Cochrane (RFC)as a Branch of the Canadian Cochrane Network and Centre. The primary goal of the Réseau is to better serve the needs of French-speaking authors and users of Cochrane reviews.

For more information, visit: http://ccnc.cochrane.org/en/about.html

Marching Forward: How the Canadian Dental Association is Shaping Practice

The Canadian Dental Association (CDA) has recently provided its members and staff with access to The Cochrane Library. This is considered to be a step forward for the future of dentistry, as more dentists will have the opportunity to inform themselves, as well as their patients, about the most recent and reliable research information available. 

With a Cochrane Review Group dedicated solely to the oral health field, CDA members and staff will discover that accessing these reviews is fast and practical (see www.ohg.cochrane.org). 

Cochrane for Practice

PEN: A Dietitian's Best Friend

A new web-based tool has the potential to change the way dietetic practitioners provide health care to their patients. PEN (Practice-based Evidence in Nutrition) is the latest interactive resource designed exclusively for professionals by the Dietitians of Canada with the help of knowledge transfer experts and volunteer dietitians. Cochrane reviews are a significant contribution to this innovative decision-support service.

PEN provides evidence-based research on four categories: population health, diseases and conditions, food and nutrition, and professional practice. Dietitians can quickly and easily find research guides, client education handouts, key practice points, and much more.

Visit: www.dieteticsatwork.com/pen

Research-on-the-Run Online Learning Modules - The Hypertension Series

The Cochrane Hypertension Group and the Therapeutics Initiative are launching an online education initiative designed to help raise visibility, encourage dialogue and dispel myths around current clinical hot-topics, beginning with hypertension.

Currently in beta development, there are two versions being designed for multi-platform and multi-device support: ROTR professional & ROTR personal.

The Research-on-the-Run professional series is being designed for active medical professionals who are on-the-go. These short, easy to digest modules will be easily accessed through a website or downloaded to PC, Mac or PDA.

The Research-on-the-Run personal edition is designed for the general public, allowing medical practitioners to refer their patients to less technically intensive versions designed to reach large audiences.

To view a sample beta module, visit: http://www.ti.ubc.ca/rotr/.

Tools in your POCKET

Physicians in Ontario are working together to improve the management of acute and chronic low back pain and to reduce unnecessary lumbar spine X-rays in primary care settings.

The POCKET Network was created as part of a project by the Guidelines Advisory Committee on back pain to develop tools that are useful to family physicians and patients. The Cochrane Back Group is collaborating with the Network and Cochrane reviews are an important source of the evidence.

Tools include: summaries of clinical evidence for acute and chronic back pain, a prescription pad, patient handbook, a ‘Yellow and Red Flags Pocket Card and more.

See www pocketdocs.ca. to access tools, get involved and provide feedback.

Cochrane Library Spotlight

Issue 3 2007
Diabetes

Low glycaemic index or low glycaemic load diets for overweight and obesity

You have a greater possibility of losing weight if you eat a diet that is high in foods like lentils that release energy slowly once they have been consumed, rather than one that is high in foods that rapidly release sugar into the blood stream such as white bread.

Dietary advice for treatment of type 2 diabetes mellitus in adults

There are no high quality data to assess how well dietary treatments for type 2 diabetes work in people who have just been told they have the disease, but there is evidence that taking on exercise seems to be one way of improving blood sugar levels, according to the findings of a Cochrane Systematic Review.

Rosiglitazone for type 2 diabetes mellitus

Due to new safety concerns, the balance between the benefit and risk of rosiglitazone when used by people with type 2 diabetes needs to be urgently clarified. This Cochrane review found no evidence that rosiglitazone led to better patient outcomes when compared with other therapies. However, the results from one large study indicate an increased cardiovascular risk and an enhanced risk in women of having broken bones.

Women’s health

Subdermal implantable contraceptives versus other forms of reversible contraceptives or other implants as effective methods of preventing pregnancy

The contraceptive implants Implanon, Norplant and Jadelle are highly effective contraceptive methods. No significant differences were found in contraceptive effectiveness or continuation. The most common side-effect with all implants was unpredictable vaginal bleeding.

Child health

Orthodontic treatment for prominent upper front teeth in children

There is no advantage to providing early treatment for young children with prominent upper front teeth. Providing orthodontic treatment in two stages (pre-adolescence and adolescence) does not have any advantage over providing treatment in one stage, when the children are in early adolescence.

Public health

Smoking cessation and lung cancer

Do you know someone struggling with the challenges of trying to stop smoking? Recent Cochrane reviews assess different ways of helping people to quit or reduce smoking. Strategies range from those used in hospital settings, to those using specific drugs to those reducing the harm.

Senior’s health

Laser photocoagulation for neovascular age-related macular degeneration

Laser photocoagulation was the first treatment introduced to try to halt the progression of neovascular age-related macular degeneration (AMD), a condition that causes a dark spot in the visual field. This review found that the use of photocoagulation is effective for people with lesions that are outside the centre of the macula. However, these types of lesions are less common in AMD. Severe loss of vision can be prevented in about one in six people.

Top Reviews in 2006

These are the top five reviews from The Cochrane Library accessed by Canadians in 2006:

1 - St John's Wort for depression

2 - Interventions for preventing falls in elderly people

3 - Interventions for preventing obesity in children

4 - Conservative treatments for whiplash

5 - Glucosamine therapy for treating osteoarthritis

What’s Ahead

The Canadian Cochrane Symposium 2008

Big Sky: New Horizons for Systematic Reviews in Health Care

6-7 March 2008

Sutton Place Hotel, Edmonton Alberta

Opportunities

Position available:

Education Coordinator (1 year contract, 4 days/week)

This position administers the education and training program of The Canadian Cochrane Network and Centre (CCNC) and works with Cochrane trainers across the country.

The education program involves training a variety of audiences in how to conduct syntheses of healthcare research (Cochrane reviews) or how to use such syntheses (knowledge translation and dissemination) in their local context.

The position is the primary educational resource person for the CCNC and is also a trainer within the education program.

For further details, please contact Lisa McGovern at 613 562-5800 ext 2954 or email cochrane@uottawa.ca.

Application deadline: August 7th, 2007

In Memory and with thanks