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Current Science Reviews Index (Introduction)

As most of you know, I have posted a "Current Science Reviews"
message every month for the past year or so. Recently I replaced
my antique PC with a more powerful new one, and can now offer a
monthly updated subject index by e-mail. It's rather long, so I
will send it to individual addressees to start. If you want
continued updates, note that in your request. If the mailing list
gets too big to handle, I can post to the Parkinsn. list. But
first I need to tell you what the CSR is, and what it is not:

As a new PD patient I wanted to know all I could about the
disease, especially the progress of research that might lead to
improved treatment. I joined a local support group, who wanted
a science input for their newsletter. While not a medical pro-
fessional, I had access to a small medical library, where I
could regularly scan a few of the more relevant journals, and
translate the scientific jargon into English. (The huge UCLA
library is open to the public, but a little hard to get to.)
So I started the monthly CSR, with these rules in mind:

-Stick generally to peer-reviewed articles, for authenticity.

-Avoid judgement, selection, or analysis, just list what turns up.

-Respect copyright restrictions. I don't retain an article unless
 it is likely to have some historical significance.

CSR items describe current published work which may or may not
prove to be important. Each one is just a piece of the big PD
jigsaw puzzle, so the CSR is not a good source for basic or
comprehensive info about PD. It is not a good reference for
archival material; there are big sophisticated services, such as
Medline, which do that. What the CSR does do is provide an inkling
of where we are, what lies ahead. I started it pretty much for my
own use, but of course am glad to share it with others of similar
inclination.

Likewise, the CSR Index is not encyclopedic, but merely a clue to
locate any particular item. You can look it up in the CSR of the
date given, to see if you want to order the source article from
your local library, or you can go direct to the publication cited.

Thanks to the outstanding and generous effort of our computer
wizard John Cottingham, back numbers of the CSR (I think starting
with August 1995) that were posted to the list will be available
by e-mail for the asking. Earlier ones are still in the dank
dreary dungeons of my old DOS files, if I can ever learn how to
retrieve them. Meanwhile, if you really want one, I can send a
paper copy by Snail Mail.

PS: At long last I THINK I found the cause of those ugly wraps
and skips that appear unintended, like fungus, on the Jul 96 CSR.
I hope to issue a corrected version shortly.

Cheers,

Joe



J. R. Bruman (818) 789-3694
3527 Cody Road
Sherman Oaks CA 91403