Sleep-wake disorders frequently give rise to severe ailments and varied distresses in a great number of people in the world, disturbing their physical and mental activities and their social function. Sleep-wake disorders are now classified into a great number of cate gories according to their clinical features and etiological factors. Patients with sleep-wake disorders are taken care of not only by specialists for such disorders but also by general physicians and specialists of different physical and mental disorders. In the recent years, the nature of sleep and sleep-wake disorders have been intensively studied by investiga tors belonging to different fields of science including medicine, biology, and psychology in many countries. It is very important for the progress of research that investigators work ing in the related fields in different countries meet together and exchange their findings and ideas. The Japanese-German International Symposium on Sleep-Wake Disorders was held on October 9-10th, 1996 in the old, beautiful city of Erfurt (Germany). This symposium was organized by Professor Karlheinz Meier-Ewert (Schwalmstadt, Germany) and Dr. Masako Okawa (Ichikawa, Japan), with support of the German Society of Sleep Research (President at that time, Professor J. H. Peter) and of the Japanese Society of Sleep Research (President at that time, Professor Y. Hishikawa)."

Sleep-wake disorders frequently give rise to severe ailments and varied distresses in a great number of people in the world, disturbing their physical and mental activities and their social function. Sleep-wake disorders are now classified into a great number of cate gories according to their clinical features and etiological factors. Patients with sleep-wake disorders are taken care of not only by specialists for such disorders but also by general physicians and specialists of different physical and mental disorders. In the recent years, the nature of sleep and sleep-wake disorders have been intensively studied by investiga tors belonging to different fields of science including medicine, biology, and psychology in many countries. It is very important for the progress of research that investigators work ing in the related fields in different countries meet together and exchange their findings and ideas. The Japanese-German International Symposium on Sleep-Wake Disorders was held on October 9-10th, 1996 in the old, beautiful city of Erfurt (Germany). This symposium was organized by Professor Karlheinz Meier-Ewert (Schwalmstadt, Germany) and Dr. Masako Okawa (Ichikawa, Japan), with support of the German Society of Sleep Research (President at that time, Professor J. H. Peter) and of the Japanese Society of Sleep Research (President at that time, Professor Y. Hishikawa)."

Das vorliegende Buch gibt einen Oberblick }ber das neue Ge- biet der Schlafmedizin. Neben den Grundlagen werden die Kli- nik und die medikament|sen und verhaltenstherapeutischen Be- handlungen von Schlafst|rungen dargestellt. Die Einzelkapi- tel wurden von Experten des jeweiligen Faches geschrieben. Das Buch ist als Einf}hrung und Nachschlagewerk f}r Orzte, Psychologen und alle, die sich mit den Ursachen und Auswir- kungen von Schlafst|rungen besch{ftigen, geeignet.