Cochrane Db Syst Rev
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Depression is a common and important cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide. Depression is commonly treated with antidepressants and/or psychotherapy, but some people may prefer alternative approaches such as exercise. There are a number of theoretical reasons why exercise may improve depression. ⋯ Exercise seems to improve depressive symptoms in people with a diagnosis of depression, but when only methodologically robust trials are included, the effect sizes are only moderate and not statistically significant. Further, more methodologically robust trials should be performed to obtain more accurate estimates of effect sizes, and to determine risks and costs. Further systematic reviews could be performed to investigate the effect of exercise in people with dysthymia who do not fulfil diagnostic criteria for depression.
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Cochrane Db Syst Rev · Jul 2009
Review Meta AnalysisAntidepressants versus placebo for depression in primary care.
Concern has been expressed about the relevance of secondary care studies to primary care patients specifically about the effectiveness of antidepressant medication. There is a need to review the evidence of only those studies that have been conducted comparing antidepressant efficacy with placebo in primary care-based samples. ⋯ Both TCAs and SSRIs are effective for depression treated in primary care.
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Cochrane Db Syst Rev · Jul 2009
Review Meta AnalysisCyclobenzaprine for the treatment of myofascial pain in adults.
Myofascial pain (MP) is a painful condition characterized by pain transmitted from trigger points (TP) within myofascial structures (in the muscles), local or distant from the pain. TPs can produce a characteristic pattern of irradiated pain or autonomic symptoms when stimulated. Cyclobenzaprine, a muscle relaxant that suppresses muscle spasm without interfering with muscle function, is used in clinical management of MP to improve quality of sleep and reduce pain. ⋯ There was insufficient evidence to support the use of cyclobenzaprine in the treatment of MP. We identified only two small studies in which a total of 35 participants were given cyclobenzaprine, and it was not possible to estimate risks for benefits or harms. Further high quality RCTs of cyclobenzaprine for treating MP need to be conducted before firm conclusions on its effectiveness and safety can be made. Experts in this area should elect cut-off points for participants to identify whether a patient has achieved a clinically relevant reduction of pain (primary outcome), so that their results can be combined easily into future versions of this review.
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Cochrane Db Syst Rev · Jul 2009
Review Meta AnalysisHeparin for the prevention of venous thromboembolism in general medical patients (excluding stroke and myocardial infarction).
Venous thromboembolic disease has been extensively studied in surgical patients. The benefit of thromboprophylaxis is now generally accepted, but it is medical patients who make up the greater proportion of the hospital population. Medical patients differ from surgical patients with regard to their health and the pathogenesis of thromboembolism and the impact that preventative measures can have. The extensive experience from thromboprophylaxis studies in surgical patients is therefore not necessarily applicable to non-surgical patients. ⋯ The data from this review support the use of heparin thromboprophylaixs in medical patients presenting with an acute medical illness. Although the analysis found no significant difference in efficacy between LMWH and UFH, it did note differences in the incidence of DVT and clinical PE with a significantly reduced risk of bleeding in favour of LMWH.
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Leptospirosis is an infectious disease transmitted by animals. Death occurs in about five per cent of the patients. In clinical practice, doxycycline is widely used for prevention. ⋯ Prophylaxis of leptospirosis may be achieved by administration of doxycycline to soldiers training in endemic areas with a high risk of exposure to leptospirosis. Whether these findings apply to other scenarios or not remains to be proven.