Cochrane

Review question We reviewed the evidence about the effect of buprenorphine for managing withdrawal in people who are dependent on opioid drugs (for example, heroin or pharmaceutical opiates). Background Managed withdrawal, or detoxification, is a required first step for long-term treatment of opioid dependence. The combination of uncomfortable symptoms ...

Background Tobacco use is a leading preventable cause of death worldwide, and smoking rates are especially high among people who are dependent on alcohol or other drugs. People who are being treated for alcohol or other drug addictions have not usually been offered treatment to help them stop smoking at the same time. There has been concern that trying ...

Review question We reviewed the evidence about the effect of psychosocial treatment, which encompasses a wide variety of strategies that aim to change behaviour and support adults who are affected by harmful use, abuse or dependence on cocaine or amphetamines, including MDMA (ecstasy). Background Globally, cocaine and amphetamines are the two main ...

Background When people stop smoking they experience cravings to smoke and unpleasant mood changes. Nicotine receptor partial agonists aim to reduce these withdrawal symptoms and the pleasure people usually experience when they smoke. The most widely-available treatment in this drug type is varenicline, which is available world-wide as an aid for quitting ...

Background Use of pharmaceutical opioids (medicines that are used to treat pain) has increased dramatically in some parts of the world since the mid-1990s. With the increased use, there has been increasing numbers of people seeking treatment for dependence (addiction) on pharmaceutical opioids. Currently, most treatment guidelines are based on research ...

Review question We reviewed the evidence about the effect of alpha2-adrenergic agonists (clonidine, lofexidine, guanfacine, and tizanidine) in managing withdrawal in people who are dependent on opioid drugs (for example heroin, methadone). Background Managed withdrawal, or detoxification, is a required first step for longer-term treatments of opioid ...

Since the first national legislation banning indoor smoking in all public places was introduced in 2004, there has been an increase in the number of countries, states and regions adopting similar smoke-free legislation banning smoking in public places and work places since this review was first published. The main reason is to protect nonsmokers from ...

Background In this Cochrane review we aimed to measure the effectiveness of psychosocial interventions for treating people who harmfully use, abuse or are dependent on benzodiazepines (BZDs). BZDs are a type of drug that can be used to treat people who have anxiety, panic disorder, insomnia and a range of other conditions. Long term use of BZDs is ...

Review question: This review asks whether family interventions can influence children and adolescents not to smoke, compared to no-intervention controls or as an add-on to a school intervention. We particularly focused on children who had never smoked. Background: Preventing children from starting to smoke is important to avoid a lifetime of addiction, ...

Review question In this review we ask the question whether banning or restricting the advertising of alcohol in any form will lead to people drinking less alcohol. The form of the ban could include banning alcohol advertisements on television, the internet or billboards, or in magazines. We were also interested in the harms that banning advertisements ...