The Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews – Issue 4 2008

The Cochrane Library contains the largest single collection of systematic reviews of research into the effects of healthcare interventions. It is available on the internet at http://www.thecochranelibrary.com and contains the complete set of all Cochrane Reviews, within the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews. The Cochrane Library is re-issued four times per year. Issue 4 of 2008 was published in October. More than 3500 Cochrane Reviews are now available in full, including information on the methods, eligible studies, analyses, results, and conclusions. The findings of more than one hundred Cochrane Reviews appear for the first time or have changed substantially in the updating of the review. In addition, another one hundred reviews have been updated through the conduct of new searches for potentially eligible research. The new evidence in The Cochrane Library covers a wide range of areas of health and a wide variety of interventions. There is a set of three reviews of the treatment of high blood pressure, looking at angiotensin receptor blockers, angiotensin converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors, and renin inhibitors; and a pair of reviews on wound management, investigating the effects of honey as a topical treatment, and dressings for superficial and partial-thickness burns. There is also a new review of the effects of increased police patrols for preventing alcohol-impaired driving and an updated review comparing the effects of a policy of ‘hospital at home’ versus inpatient care. You will also find up-to-date Cochrane Reviews of acupuncture for assisted conception, rehabilitation after lumbar disk surgery, procaine for dementia, and the organization of healthcare services for people with an intellectual disability. Another review, bringing together evidence from more than 8,000 people with asthma, investigates the adverse effects of formoterol. As examples of how Cochrane Reviews evolve over time in order to keep pace with new research and new ways of thinking, Issue 4 of The Cochrane Library also contains substantial updates of two reviews that appeared for the first time nearly a decade ago: St John's wort for major depression, and surgery in intracerebral haemorrhage. Several of these new and updated Cochrane Reviews have been highlighted in Evidence Pods. These podcasts are available free on the internet and can be listened to, saved, and shared from The Cochrane Collaboration website: http://www.cochrane.org/podcasts. Two Cochrane authors who recorded podcasts for Issue 2 2008 of The Cochrane Library tell us about their reviews in the following section. Fiona Cramp, a Cochrane author from the University of the West of England in Bristol, writes about the review she and James Daniel did of exercise to relieve cancer-related fatigue; and Batool Azra Haider of the Aga Khan University in Pakistan looks at whether shorter durations of antibiotics are as effective for children with pneumonia as longer durations of antibiotics.