INTRODUCTION to Current Science Reviews INDEX (revised April 1998) As most of you know, I have posted a "CURRENT SCIENCE REVIEWS" message every month for the past three years or so. Recently, I added a separate cumulative INDEX to the CSRs, which I revise each month to include the new material. The CSR INDEX is big (700 or so lines) and grows at about 30 lines per month, so I'm unsure how long I can continue without overloading the system; but since a number of listmembers want it, we'll find a way. For newcomers to the list, I need to tell you what the CSR is, and what it is not: As a new PD patient I wanted to learn 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 professional, I had access to a small medical library, where I could regularly scan a few of the more relevant journals, and translate their 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 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 like 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 source as cited. The reviews that I write for the CSR are not especially timely, as it takes about a year after submission to a scholarly journal, before an article finally appears in print; then the medical library I use depends for some of its journals on donations from personal subscribers, so it may be several months more before I see a new article. Usually an exciting breakthrough is accompanied by a news release, long before it is documented in the literature, and it may take several months more for a new article or abstract to get into Medline. Back Numbers: I have posted Current Science Reviews (with some variation in early titles) to this e-mail forum, now known as "Parkinson's Information Exchange", each month beginning with December 1994. They are now archived at two sites on the World Wide Web (www), one maintained by listmember Simon Coles: http://james.parkinsons.org.uk/ and another, sponsored as a public service by the Swiss drug firm Roche: http://www/parkinsonsdisease.com/ I can fill e-mail requests for individual reviews, as cited in the cumulative subject Index (which appears as CSRINDX each month) but, remember that these are only reference citations. To see an actual article or abstract, you must use either Medline or a medical library that subscribes to the journal in question. J. R. Bruman (818) 789-3694 3527 Cody Road Sherman Oaks, CA 91403-5013