The book provides an overview of the entire field of sleep medicine, from the basics of sleep physiology to the diagnosis and treatment of specific sleep disorders. It offers a valuable introduction to the field of sleep medicine, but also serves as a reference work on all aspects of clinical practice, including diagnosis, differential diagnosis and treatment of all relevant sleep disorders in children and adults.

It starts by presenting sleep physiology and the classification of sleep disorders, and explains in detail all the relevant diagnostic measures in the field. Based on these introductory chapters, it discusses the relevant sleep disorders, including insomnia, sleep-related breathing disorders, hypersomnia, sleep-wake-rhythm disorders, parasomnia, sleep related movement disorders, and secondary sleep disorders, as well as various isolated symptoms. In addition, an entire chapter is dedicated to sleep disorders in children.

Drawing on the long-time experienceof five board-certified sleep physicians with different professional backgrounds, the book reflects the interdisciplinary nature of sleep medicine. It includes the current international classification systems as well as scoring rules and clinical guidelines. It is intended for physicians and therapists from various specialities, including internal medicine (e.g. pulmonology and cardiology), psychology, psychiatry, neurology, paediatrics, otorhinolaryngology and general medicine who are interested in sleep medicine. It also serves as a textbook in these specialties. To optimize its clinical value, a uniform structure is used for the various chapters, including practical tips, comprehension questions and clinical case presentations.

Boris A. Stuck. Board certification in Otorhinolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery. Sleep physician and Somnologist. Chair of the Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery, University Hospital Marburg. Author / Co-author of the German guidelines Diagnosis and Treatment of Snoring and Sleep Related Breathing Disorders. Board member of the German Sleep Society and speaker of the working group Surgical Treatment for Sleep Disorders. 

Joachim T. Maurer. Board certification in Otorohinolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery. Sleep physician and Somnologist. Head of the Sleep Disorders Centre at the Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery at the University Hospital Mannheim. Co-author of various German guidelines including Diagnosis and Treatment of Snoring and Sleep Related Breathing Disorders. Member of the German Sleep Society and speaker of the working group Sleep Medicine of the German Society of Otorhinolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery.

Angelika A. Schlarb. Board certification in Psychology and Psychotherapy. Head of the scientific section of the Sleep Disorders Centre at the University of Bielefeld. Member of the European Sleep Research Society and the International Pediatric Sleep Society. Author of the German guideline Insomnia in children and adults. Section editor of the Journal of Sleep Research.

Michael Schredl. Associate Professor in Psychology. Somnologist. Electrical engineer. Head of the scientific section of the Sleep Disorders Centre at the Central Institute of Mental Health Mannheim. Speaker of the working group Dream of the German Sleep Society, Member of the International Association for the Study of Dreams and the European Sleep Research Society, editor of the International Journal of Dream Research.

Hans-Günter Weeß. Board certification in Psychology. Somnologist. Head of the Sleep Disorders Centre at the Pfalzklinikum Klingenmünster. Member of the boardof the German Sleep Society. Section editor of "Somnology. Author of the German guideline on Insomnia in adults. Representative of the German Sleep Society for the guideline on shift work. Member of the expert panel for the German Federal Road Research Group. 

Chapter 1: Physiology of Normal and Disturbed Sleep.- Chapter 2: Diagnostic Measures.- Chapter 3: Insonmia.- Chapter 4: Sleep-related Breathing Disorders.- Chapter 5: Central Disorders of Hypersomnolence.- Chapter 6: Circadian Rhythm Sleep-Wake Disorders.- Chapter 7: Parasomnia.- Chapter 8: Sleep-related Movement Disorders.- Chapter 9: Isolated Symptoms, Normal Variants and Other Sleep Disorders.- Chapter 10: Secondary Sleep Disorders.- Chapter 11: Sleep Disorders in Children.