Cochrane

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 ...

Background The best thing to do to reduce the harms caused by smoking is to quit, but some people may not want to do this or may feel that they are unable to stop smoking completely. Cutting down the number of cigarettes smoked daily or using different tobacco products, such as chewing tobacco or low-tar cigarettes, may reduce some of the harm caused ...

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 ...

Review question We investigated whether psychostimulant substitution was safe and effective for treating patients with cocaine dependence. Background Cocaine dependence is a frequent disorder for which no medication has been approved for treatment. Substitution therapy involves the replacement of the abused drug, which is often illegal and used ...

Background Electronic cigarettes (ECs) are electronic devices that produce an aerosol (commonly referred to as vapour) that the user inhales. This vapour typically contains nicotine without most of the toxins smokers inhale with cigarette smoke. ECs have become popular with smokers who want to reduce the risks of smoking. This review aimed to find ...

Review question We reviewed the evidence about the effect of motivational interviewing (MI), a way of counselling to bring out and strengthen reasons for changing behaviour, for preventingalcohol misuse in young people. Background Alcohol misuse results in about 3.3 million deaths each year worldwide. Around 9% of deaths that occur in people aged ...

Background: Tobacco use is common amongst people living with HIV and AIDS (PLWHA); it causes a range of health problems and accounts for many deaths. There is good evidence about interventions to help people quit tobacco use in the general population, however the effectiveness in PLWHA was not known. Methods: We reviewed the available evidence from ...

Since some countries banned smoking in public places in 2004, there has been a reduction in secondhand smoke exposure (being affected by smoke from other people's cigarettes), and health has improved for smokers and nonsmokers. Being exposed to secondhand smoke can increase the chances of illness and death, and so a number of international health organisations ...

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 ...