What are some great ways to passively stay informed on a subject?

December 3, 2008 3:23 PM

There are a number of subjects which I don't have a particular interest in, or don't have the time to spend researching, but I would still like to keep up to date on when new information comes up. For example, I have a friend who suffers from Reflex Sympathetic Dystrophy, a condition for which the most popular treatment currently is simply to prescribe lots of pain killers. It occurs to me occasionally to look it up and see if there have been any new developments, but I think it would be great if I could receive updates when they come up, perhaps in an RSSesque fashion. Is there an effective way to receive automatic updates on a subject like this?
posted by mockdeep to grab bag (6 comments total)

This is what Google Alerts is for.
posted by dunkadunc at 3:28 PM on December 3, 2008

For more scholarly info, Pubmed has a feature that can send you regular e-mail updates or RSS feeds based on keyword search of the literature. See here.
posted by drpynchon at 3:34 PM on December 3, 2008

I really do like Google Alerts for ease of set-up and reading, but I find that the results are spotty. For instance, I get good results for an alert I set up for "Hattiesburg new business" to follow business openings and the like for my home town. However, my alert for simply "migraine" gives me very few results, and they are almost invariably about some sports star who couldn't play some game due to a headache, rather than info about new studies and treatments as I was expecting. Play with it, though, and Google Alerts may be just the ticket for you.
posted by thebrokedown at 5:24 PM on December 3, 2008

I don't have anything to add specifically, but it just so happens that my mom suffers from RSD - so, if anyone knows of any specific websites related to treatment, I'd love to hear about them.
posted by grapefruitmoon at 7:12 PM on December 3, 2008

Google Alerts. Hands down.
posted by tcv at 7:32 PM on December 3, 2008

You may have better luck searching under CRPS (RSD is a rather outdated term in pain medicine). In addition to medications, some patients have had good outcomes using neuromodulatory techniques, such as TENS and spinal cord stimulation.
posted by oceanmorning at 8:49 PM on December 3, 2008