For how we live.
Heartburn is one of the most common complaints in pregnancy. Diet and posture changes come first; a Cochrane review found antacid-type medicines relieve it, but the trial evidence is thin and drug choice needs care.
Anxiety disorders in young people are treatable. In the largest trial, combining CBT with an SSRI worked best, and both beat placebo. Talking therapy alone also clearly outperforms no treatment.
Two Cochrane reviews put numbers on it: oral terbinafine and azoles cure far more toenail infections than placebo, while newer topical solutions work but cure a minority — over nearly a year of daily use.
Acute otitis externa is usually treated with ear drops, not tablets. In trials antibiotic-steroid drops cured most people, and guidelines say not to start with oral antibiotics for an uncomplicated case.
The flaky, red patches on scalp, brows and nose folds are an inflammatory reaction, not poor hygiene. Ketoconazole cream cut treatment failure 31% against placebo, and short steroid courses tripled clearance.
The brown facial patches come from overactive pigment cells in sun-aged skin. Triple-combination cream beats hydroquinone alone (risk ratio 1.58) and tranexamic acid helps, but relapse is the rule.
When fingers and toes turn white then blue in the cold, it is often Raynaud's phenomenon. A Cochrane review finds the standard drugs — calcium channel blockers — cut attacks only modestly.
Chronic hives are mast-cell driven and usually have no external trigger. Antihistamines clear some cases; at 12 weeks omalizumab cut a weekly itch score by 9.8 points at 300 mg, against 5.1 on placebo.
Carpal tunnel syndrome is median-nerve compression at the wrist. Cochrane reviews find steroid injections clearly help for about a month, while surgery beats non-surgical care at three and six months.
A Cochrane review of six trials finds honey modestly eases cough in children over one, and does as well as common syrup ingredients — while regulators say those syrups do not shorten a cold. Never give honey under one.
A Cochrane review found no evidence that antibiotics ease the pain of an inflamed tooth nerve. The best trial evidence points to ibuprofen, with paracetamol added — but only a dentist fixes the cause.
Hoarseness affects nearly a third of people at some point. Most cases are viral and settle on their own; voice therapy helps persistent ones, and a voice change lasting weeks needs a look at the vocal cords.
Cochrane reviews found no trials specific to acute neck pain, and only moderate evidence that targeted exercise helps the chronic kind. Manipulation and mobilisation come out roughly even.
Fluoride toothpaste is the home foundation, with a Cochrane prevented fraction of 24%. At the dentist, fluoride varnish and resin sealants have the strongest trial record — but the evidence is only moderate.
The injected vaccine contains no live virus. In a Cochrane review, inactivated vaccines raised fever only from 1.5% to 2.3%, and a randomised crossover trial found no excess systemic symptoms over saline placebo.
A Cochrane network meta-analysis compared eight talking therapies for panic disorder. Cognitive behavioural therapy came out ahead most often — but the effects were small and the evidence graded low throughout.
A randomised trial found ordinary ibuprofen cut acute mountain sickness from 69% to 43% on a fast ascent. A Cochrane review found most supplements and pre-acclimatisation gadgets do not hold up.
Overactive bladder means urgency, often with frequency and night-time waking. Guidelines start with bladder training and fluid habits, and reserve drugs and procedures for when those fall short.
The commonest cause of spinning dizziness is loose inner-ear crystals. In trials the Epley manoeuvre cleared vertigo in 56% of people versus 21% with a sham, and guidelines advise against reaching for drugs.
A 2006 Cochrane review found the classic ingredient, potassium, only patchily convincing. A newer network meta-analysis of 32 trials is firmer: stannous, potassium and arginine toothpastes can be recommended for pain.
A Cochrane review of 24 trials found surgery beats non-surgical care at stopping an ingrown toenail coming back; adding phenol to the operation cut recurrence from 41% to 14% in the one head-to-head study.
Nausea in early pregnancy is common and usually mild. Ginger has the best trial support for nausea, vitamin B6 and doxylamine are options, and acupuncture shows no clear benefit.
Dandruff is the mild end of seborrhoeic dermatitis, and Cochrane reviews of that condition back the medicated-shampoo ingredients: ketoconazole and ciclopirox clear flaking better than placebo.
Topical diclofenac and ketoprofen beat their carrier gels for knee osteoarthritis pain, with about 60% of users reporting much less pain. A large network meta-analysis now rates topical diclofenac a first-line option.
A Cochrane review of 39 trials found a steroid injection lowered heel pain by about 6 points on a 100-point scale in the first month, and made no difference by six months. Most cases settle anyway.
Sun-driven brown patches are hard to shift. A Cochrane review found a triple-combination cream beat hydroquinone alone; newer meta-analyses point to tranexamic acid and PRP, on thinner evidence.
A Cochrane review of 36 trials found no strong evidence that any spray, gel or lozenge reliably relieves dry mouth. A second review found acupuncture no better than a placebo. The honest answers are narrow.
Artificial tears are still the mainstay, but the trial evidence cannot say which brand is best. A 3,000 mg fish-oil study in 535 people found no benefit over an olive-oil placebo.
The strongest rinse, chlorhexidine, clearly cuts plaque and gum inflammation — but stains teeth, so it is a short-term treatment, not a daily habit. Everyday rinses help less, and always work on top of brushing.
A Cochrane review found lumbar supports do not prevent back pain and their treatment value was unclear. A new French randomised trial found a soft belt added to usual care modestly improved pain and disability.
Most acute sinus infections clear without antibiotics — about 46% of people are better within a week regardless. Drugs speed cure in only 5 to 11 per 100, and cause side effects in more.
Most bad breath starts in the mouth. Cochrane reviews found tongue scraping cuts odour compounds only briefly, and the rinses that work best also stain the teeth.
A Cochrane review of 67 trials found topical allylamines and azoles cure far more foot infections than placebo, with allylamines slightly ahead. Oral pills are reserved for stubborn or failed cases.
Cochrane reviews of paracetamol, ibuprofen and aspirin for tension-type headache find each beats a dummy pill for a minority of people — a real but small effect, with side effects no higher than placebo.
Two Cochrane reviews found that for ordinary acute low back pain, advice to rest in bed is slightly worse than advice to stay active. For sciatica, it makes little difference either way.
When brief vertigo is triggered by rolling over or looking up, it is usually a loose crystal in the inner ear. A Cochrane review found a repositioning manoeuvre resolved it in 56% versus 21%.
Chronic hives can flare for months with no allergy to find. A Cochrane review of 9,759 people found modern antihistamines such as cetirizine clear them in a minority, not everyone.
A Cochrane review of 51 trials found powered brushes cut plaque and gum inflammation more than manual ones, on moderate-quality evidence. An 11-year cohort suggests the small edge adds up: fewer teeth lost.
Decades of randomised trials give fluoride toothpaste a prevented fraction Cochrane puts at 24%. Concentration and how you brush change the size of the benefit — but no over-the-counter rival has evidence like it.
Xerosis is a barrier problem, not dirt. Cochrane found moisturisers cut eczema flares 60% and spared steroid use; in care-home residents a twice-daily emollient roughly halved skin tears, on weak evidence.
Pooled across 85 trials, exercise-based cardiac rehab cut later heart attacks and hospital admissions but barely moved death rates within a year — a real benefit, and a narrower one than the usual pitch.
A Cochrane review of 48 trials found treatment may lift pregnancy rates from about 21% to 22–48%, but couldn't confirm a live-birth benefit. Microsurgery had the fewest recurrences.
One in five people get chronic itch at some point. When no rash and no cause turn up, a Cochrane review found almost no trials at all — leaving guideline experts to work from indirect evidence.
Balance starts slipping after the mid-50s. In 1,702 adults, those who could not hold a 10-second one-legged stance had 84% higher death risk. Specific exercise, done three times a week, measurably restores it.
The familiar explanation — dehydration and lost salts — is the weakest part of the evidence. The better-supported idea is that cramping is a failure of nerve control, which is why a mouthful of pickle juice can stop one.
Most sore throats clear on their own within a week. Painkillers and honey ease the pain; antibiotics shorten symptoms by only about 16 hours and are rarely worth it.
Three randomised trials found routine finger-prick testing produced no clinically meaningful change in long-term blood sugar for people whose type 2 diabetes is managed without insulin.
Cochrane found a clinically important 15.2-point pain reduction across 249 trials. A reanalysis excluding trials with fewer than 70 participants put the effect below the threshold that counts as meaningful.
A Cochrane review of 251,891 participants found no effect on total, cancer or cardiovascular mortality, at high certainty for the first two. The finding is about check-ups, not about all screening.
Cochrane reviews covering more than 19,000 participants found no reduction in cold incidence from regular vitamin C, a possible reduction in duration from zinc, and a clear increase in adverse events.
Cochrane pooled 106 randomised trials in 13,631 people; a phenotype-led update reached 152 studies. The best evidence is feature-by-feature — brimonidine for redness, ivermectin and azelaic acid for pustules.
PMDD is the severe, mostly psychological form of premenstrual illness, affecting about 3.6% of women in one study. For it, SSRIs are the best-evidenced treatment, with side effects that are common and dose-related.
Canker sores clear on their own, and nothing reliably cures or prevents them. A Cochrane review found systemic drugs unproven; some topical options may ease pain, but the trials behind them are small and weak.
The nosebleed guideline first move is specific: firm, sustained pressure on the soft lower third of the nose for at least five minutes. Most settle this way; the treatments people escalate to have thin evidence.
Most hiccups stop on their own, and the remedies everyone swears by have almost no trial evidence. The one gadget with published data was studied by its own inventor and funded through the product crowdfunding campaign.
Seventy-three trials, and a familiar pattern: the benefit versus no treatment shrinks by a third when only the best-conducted studies are counted. The head-to-head comparisons rest on a few hundred people.