Common Pitfalls in Sleep Medicine

Book excerpt: Unrecognized sleep disorders can shorten lives, promote hypertension, augment risk for diabetes, exacerbate metabolic syndrome, increase overall medical care costs, impair cognition, cause motor vehicle crashes, reduce workplace productivity, and greatly diminish quality of life. Sleep problems are among the most common complaints that patients bring to their clinicians, but little medical training is devoted to the field and so sleep disorders tend to remain undiagnosed for many years. The case-based chapters in this book highlight key points and pitfalls in a readable, easily assimilated, and memorable format that should improve a clinician's ability to address, investigate, and manage common sleep disorders. The cases illustrate how clinical skill and occasional wisdom can complement data obtained from laboratory testing. Common Pitfalls in Sleep Medicine will be of particular interest to clinicians and trainees in sleep medicine, neurology, internal medicine, family medicine, pulmonary medicine, otolaryngology, psychiatry, and psychology.