Cochrane Db Syst Rev
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Clinical trials have shown that exercise in adults with overweight or obesity can reduce bodyweight. There has been no quantitative systematic review of this in The Cochrane Library. ⋯ The results of this review support the use of exercise as a weight loss intervention, particularly when combined with dietary change. Exercise is associated with improved cardiovascular disease risk factors even if no weight is lost.
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Injection sclerotherapy is widely used for superficial varicose veins. The treatment aims to obliterate the lumen of varicose veins or thread veins. There is limited evidence regarding its efficacy. ⋯ Evidence from RCTs suggests that the choice of sclerosant, dose, formulation (foam versus liquid), local pressure dressing, degree and length of compression have no significant effect on the efficacy of sclerotherapy for varicose veins. The evidence supports the current place of sclerotherapy in modern clinical practice, which is usually limited to treatment of recurrent varicose veins following surgery and thread veins. Surgery versus sclerotherapy is the subject of a further Cochrane Review.
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Cochrane Db Syst Rev · Oct 2006
Review Meta AnalysisPit and fissure sealants versus fluoride varnishes for preventing dental decay in children and adolescents.
The majority of the detected increment in dental caries is confined to pit and fissure surfaces of first molars. Application of pit and fissure sealants and topical fluorides are widely used procedures in the prevention of decay, and their effectiveness in caries prevention has been proved by systematic reviews. ⋯ There was some evidence of the superiority of pit and fissure sealants over fluoride varnish application in the prevention of occlusal decays. However, it remained unclear to what extent there is difference between the effectiveness of pit and fissure sealants and fluoride varnishes. Therefore, more high quality research is needed. No recommendations for the clinical practice could be given and the benefit of pit and fissure sealants and fluoride varnishes should be considered locally and individually.
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Cochrane Db Syst Rev · Oct 2006
Review Meta AnalysisPreventing occupational stress in healthcare workers.
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A malaria vaccine is needed because of the heavy burden of mortality and morbidity due to this disease. This review describes the results of trials of blood (asexual)-stage vaccines. Several are under development, but only one (MSP/RESA, also known as Combination B) has been tested in randomized controlled trials. ⋯ The MSP/RESA (Combination B) vaccine shows promise as a way to reduce the severity of malaria episodes, but the effect of the vaccine is MSP2 variant-specific. Pretreatment for malaria during a vaccine trial makes the results difficult to interpret, particularly with the relatively small sample sizes of early trials. The results show that blood-stage vaccines may play a role and merit further development.