Study database
Pools several studies statistically. It can estimate an effect more precisely, but it inherits the weaknesses of the studies it includes.
HUHuman
Across 27 studies and 37 interventions with 264 healthy adults, tendon stiffness and elastic modulus rose clearly and cross-sectional area less so; loading intensity was decisive, contraction type was not.
HUHuman
Across 21 randomised trials with 994 people, eccentric training was superior to physical modalities for pain reduction but equivalent to other forms of training; the functional data were highly heterogeneous.
HUHuman
Across 33 studies with 35,896 people, surgery lowered the re-rupture rate and raised return to sport, but came with more infections and nerve injuries; platelet-rich plasma showed no added benefit.
HUHuman
Across 14 randomised trials with 1,628 participants, open and minimally invasive surgery clearly lowered the re-rupture rate, with a higher complication rate for the open technique and no difference in functional scores.
HUHuman
Across 9 studies with 464 participants, eccentric training with soft tissue treatment ranked best in the short term, yet confidence in all non-surgical approaches was very low and no best option could be named.
HUHuman
For the Achilles tendon the analysis found only small and inconsistent effects of shockwave therapy on pain and function, while it showed clear effects in plantar fasciitis.
HOHorse
Across 21 included studies, cell or plasma treatments did not raise return to performance but did lower the risk of re-injury; study quality was weak and the risk of bias high.
HUHuman
Across 19 studies with 768 adults, collagen peptides combined with training showed favourable effects on tendon morphology and strength, yet the certainty of the tendon statement was itself rated as very low.
HUHuman
Across 61 papers with 763 people, mechanical loading clearly raised stiffness and elastic modulus and cross-sectional area only slightly; the stiffness gain came mainly from the material, and protocols with high local tendon strain worked more strongly than those with low strain.
HUHuman
Analysis of 14 studies with 7,755 febrile infants: procalcitonin detected invasive bacterial infections considerably better than C-reactive protein; for the wider category of serious bacterial infection both markers were equally middling, with optimal CRP thresholds between about 13 and 16 milligrams per litre.
HUHuman
Analysis of 112 papers covering 113 markers: only markers in cerebrospinal fluid reached excellent discrimination (C-reactive protein and ferritin about 0.94 area under the curve each); not a single blood marker reached that quality, procalcitonin in blood lying in the good range at about 0.89.
HUHuman
Analysis of 47 studies with 194,418 people: genetically raised CRP was not associated with more coronary heart disease, while the observed association was clear in the same data; CRP is therefore hardly a causal factor.
HUHuman
Analysis of 14 randomised trials with 133,109 people: more intensive lipid lowering reduced cardiovascular events but did not measurably change high-sensitivity CRP; a residual inflammatory risk persists despite modern lipid therapy.
HUHuman
Analysis of 25 randomised trials: across all anti-inflammatory agents no established benefit on major cardiovascular events was demonstrable, but there was one for inflammasome inhibitors and interleukin pathway inhibitors, while high-sensitivity CRP did not change.
HUHuman
Analysis of randomised trials in older adults: training lowered CRP and interleukin-6, and the combination of training with additional protein intake worked more strongly than either measure alone; on tumour necrosis factor alpha only the combination had an effect.
HUHuman
Analysis of 19 randomised trials with 1,183 people: plant-derived alpha-linolenic acid lowered CRP and tumour necrosis factor alpha slightly, left interleukin-6 unchanged and at the same time raised LDL cholesterol.
HUHuman
Analysis of 18 randomised trials with 1,018 people with rheumatoid arthritis: omega-3 reduced the number of tender joints and the triglycerides, while the reduction in CRP, erythrocyte sedimentation rate and disease activity score was not statistically confirmed.
HUHuman
In 2,443 randomised trials drawn from 228 meta-analyses, treatment effects were exaggerated by roughly 8 to 13 per cent on average where the risk of bias for random allocation, allocation concealment and blinding was unclear or high.
MUMultiple species
In ten animal experiments involving 2,450 animals assessed both blinded and unblinded, the unblinded assessment exaggerated the effect by 59 per cent on average; the outcomes were mostly subjective. The figure is carried by three pesticide experiments with a very large deviation: in the remaining seven experiments the exaggeration came to about 18 per cent and was not statistically significant.
HUHuman
From 5,663 records screened, 61 studies were included, 59 of them randomised; under GRADE the certainty of the evidence stayed very low for every outcome.
HOHorse
Across 19 pooled studies, neither the choice between a medical and a surgical approach, nor rolling versus trotting, nor phenylephrine changed the probability of survival to a statistically meaningful degree, with the absence of randomised studies calling for caution.
HUHuman
Eleven randomised trials with 735 participants: in older adults with ordinary cramps the difference from placebo after four weeks was 0.18 cramps per week, and a clinically meaningful benefit is unlikely; mild side effects, mostly gastrointestinal, were reported more often, but this comparison was rated as having low certainty.
HUHuman
Thirteen studies: magnesium reduced cramp frequency in pregnancy but showed no effect on nocturnal or persistent calf cramps in adults; calcium and potassium remained unsupported.
HUHuman
Only three randomised trials with 151 older participants: time to fall asleep was around 17 minutes shorter than on placebo, total sleep duration was not reliably different, and all the trials had a moderate to high risk of bias.
HUHuman
Across 31 randomised trials, amino acids, vitamin D and melatonin improved self-reported sleep quality, while the data on magnesium were insufficient for pooling.
HUHuman
Thirty-four double-blind trials with 2,028 adults: supplementation over three months on average lowered the upper blood pressure reading by 2.0 and the lower by 1.8 millimetres of mercury, accompanied by a slight rise in serum magnesium.
HUHuman
Subgroup analysis of randomised trials: the larger reductions in the upper blood pressure reading occurred at relatively low daily amounts and with durations of use of more than three months, not at high amounts.
HOHorse
Synthesis of 42 studies: ponies had lower endogenous magnesium losses in the faeces and a higher apparent digestibility than large horses; on calculation, ponies needed about half and large horses 1.9 times the previous recommendation.
HUHuman
Across 46 studies with 913 participants, acetate, propionate, butyrate and mixtures had no effect on blood glucose or insulin; only vinegar lowered the acute glucose rise, and the authors rate the overall evidence as very uncertain.
HUHuman
In 14 intervention groups with 205 adults, cereal fibres raised acetate, propionate, butyrate and total short-chain fatty acids; the effect was more pronounced at a body mass index above 29, and not all fibre types acted alike.
HUHuman
Across nine randomised trials, dietary fibre raised bifidobacteria and the sum of short-chain fatty acids and lowered HbA1c by 0.18 percentage points, while acetate, propionate and butyrate individually, along with fasting glucose and insulin resistance, remained unchanged.
MUMultiple species
Across 61 studies (29 in humans, 32 in animals), prebiotics lowered C-reactive protein and lipopolysaccharide in humans, while tumour necrosis factor fell only in animal experiments; heterogeneity between preparations, doses and durations was very high.
HUHuman
In 21 studies with 2,084 critically ill people, dietary fibre improved gut barrier permeability, the inflammatory marker and length of stay, without significant differences in short-chain fatty acid concentrations.
HUHuman
In eleven randomised trials with 729 people, prebiotics improved neither overall response nor abdominal pain, bloating or quality of life; they raised bifidobacteria, and inulin-type fructans even made bloating worse.
HUHuman
Across eleven studies, total fatty acids, acetate, propionate and valerate were lower in ulcerative colitis than in healthy people; butyrate was reduced in active disease but higher than in healthy people in remission, which weakens a simple deficiency hypothesis.
MUMultiple species
Umbrella review of 122 systematic reviews covering 367 interventions: 50 per cent reach a human study, 40 per cent a randomised trial and 5 per cent approval, with 86 per cent concordance of positive results and median times of 5, 7 and 10 years.
MUMultiple species
549 studies in 9,535 animals: mean reported improvement 26.3 per cent; 51.2 per cent without blinded assessment, with an effect inflated by 7.2 percentage points; 2 to 41 per cent of the experiments probably unpublished, and including them lowers the effect by 0.9 to 14.3 points.
HOHorse
21 publications included, 5 of them amenable to meta-analysis: the pooled effect favoured platelet-rich plasma, yet most studies carried a high risk of bias; the authors call for randomised, blinded comparative studies and a uniform classification system.
Once a month: new syntheses, checked studies, and what has changed in the state of the evidence.