Recent Developments in Parkinson's Disease

Current Surgical Therapy-2 has the scope of a textbook of general surgery and approaches the length of a textbook of general surgery-but it is not a textbook of general surgery. Divided into 181 chapters in 18 sections, the book covers the domain of general surgery: the digestive tract and its associated organs, the spleen, breast, endocrine organs, chest wall, trachea, skin and soft tissues, and the vascular system. In addition, the work includes sections on trauma and emergency care and general issues in pre-operative and post-operative management of patients. Unlike a textbook, however, the individual chapters tend to represent the personal opinions of the authors rather than the balanced and scholarly presentation traditionally associated with a textbook. Instead, the chapters are well-written descriptions of each of the authors' personal approaches to the problem discussed, accompanied by the rationale underlying that approach. Unfortunately, no references are included, a disadvantage for those wishing to review the work cited by the authors in their presentations. As a whole, the work can best be described as a compilation of notes from 181 lectures, covering the entire field of general surgery and summarizing the state of knowledge as it relates to the management of the surgical patient. The wide variety of authors and the institutions they represent help to ensure that a broad range of viewpoints is presented. This very readable and accessible book will make a useful supplement to a standard, comprehensive textbook of surgery in the library of practicing surgeons, house officers, and medical students. Over twenty years ago, it was discovered that striatal dopamine was deficient in patients with Parkinson's disease and that treatment with high-dose levodopa could relieve Parkinson's symptoms. In the two decades that followed, research on this important chronic disease has flourished and brought about monumental advances in comprehension of the anatomy, biochemistry, and physiology of the basal ganglia, the pharmacology of the dopaminergic system, and the therapy of Parkinson's disease. With the wave of developments in the study and treatment of parkinsonism, a workshop sponsored by the Parkinson's Disease Foundation was held in Bermuda in October 1984 to provide a forum for an international panel of over 100 leading investigators to share and discuss new data and findings. Recent Developments in Parkinson's Disease is a collection of papers presented at that symposium. A superb preface prepared by the editors provides an excellent background for those less familiar with …