Cochrane Db Syst Rev
-
Cochrane Db Syst Rev · Apr 2006
ReviewRest during pregnancy for preventing pre-eclampsia and its complications in women with normal blood pressure.
Women at risk of pre-eclampsia or gestational hypertension are sometimes advised to rest. Whether this, overall, does more good than harm is unclear. ⋯ Daily rest, with or without nutrient supplementation, may reduce the risk of pre-eclampsia for women with normal blood pressure, although the reported effect may reflect bias and/or random error rather than a true effect. There is no information about outcomes such as perinatal mortality and morbidity, maternal morbidity, women's views, adverse effects, and costs. Current evidence is insufficient to support recommending rest or reduced activity to women for preventing pre-eclampsia and its complications. Whether women rest during pregnancy should therefore be a matter of personal choice.
-
Cochrane Db Syst Rev · Apr 2006
ReviewStavudine, lamivudine and nevirapine combination therapy for treatment of HIV infection and AIDS in adults.
A favourable regimen for people infected with HIV/AIDS is one that provides optimal efficacy, durability of antiretroviral activity, tolerability, and has low adverse effects and drug-drug interactions. The combination of the non-nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitor nevirapine (NVP), and two nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors, stavudine (d4T) and lamivudine (3TC), is widely used as first-line therapy, especially in low-resource countries. Analysis of the efficacy, durability and tolerability of the regimen is thus important to clinicians, consumers and policy-makers living in both rich and poor countries. ⋯ The combination of nevirapine, 3TC and d4T is as efficacious as a combination of efavirenz, 3TC and d4T. Once-daily NVP with twice-daily 3TC and d4T is as efficacious as twice-daily NVP, 3TC and d4T. However, toxicity may be increased in the once-daily NVP regime. Additional trials of sufficient duration are required to provide better evidence for the use of this combination as a first line therapy. Ideally, trials should use standardised assessment measures especially with respect to measuring viral load, so that results can be compared and combined in meta-analyses.
-
Pre-eclampsia is a common disorder of pregnancy with uncertain etiology. In Chinese herbal medicines, a number of herbs are used for treating pre-eclampsia. Traditional Chinese medicine considers that, when a woman is pregnant, most of the blood of the mother is directed to the placenta to provide the baby with the required nutrition; other maternal organs may in consequence be vulnerable to damage. These organs include the liver, the spleen, and the kidneys. The general effects of Chinese herbal medicines that can protect these organs may be valuable in pre-eclampsia by encouraging vasodilatation, increasing blood flow, and decreasing platelet aggregation. The use of Chinese herbal medicine is often based on the individual and presence of traditional Chinese medicine symptoms. ⋯ The effect of Chinese herbal medicine for treating pre-eclampsia remains unclear. There are currently no randomized controlled trials to address the efficacy and safety of Chinese herbal medicine for the treatment of pre-eclampsia. Well conducted randomized controlled trials are required.
-
Paracoccidioidomycosis is a fungal infection found in particular geographic localities in Latin America. Treatment can last for up to two years is often associated with complications, including relapse, but people may die without it. ⋯ The small number of participants and the short follow-up period impede definitive conclusions.
-
In traditional didactic teaching, the learner has a passive role, digesting the knowledge presented by the teacher. Stimulating and active teaching processes may be better at instilling information than more pedestrian approaches. Games involving repetition, reinforcement, association and use of multiple senses have been proposed as part of experiential learning. ⋯ Current limited evidence suggests educational games could help mental health students gain more points in their tests, especially if they have left revision to the last minute. This salient study should be refined and repeated.