Epilepsy and Sleep

The realisation that epithelial tissues are not simply passive barriers to the adsorption of materials into internal environments has brought about an enormous growth of investigation of mucosal functions and their active and passive protective roles. Epithelia are highly organized but complex structures, subserving numerous functions, including immunological defence. The use of pharmacological tools in these systems is increasing, which is improving our understanding of epithelial immunobiology. This volume adopts a step-by-step approach, whereby each chapter builds upon the previous one, progressively adding important foundation information, culminating in a series of chapters concerning particular epithelia, including respiratory, gastrointestinal, renal and ocular. The result is a comprehensive but integrated treatise of epithelial function and its immunopharmacology, which aims to serve as an appropriate starting point at which the clinical pulmonologist and the research scientist can obtain an appreciation of some aspects of epithelial immunopharmacology as they are currently understood.It is well recognized that there is an intimate and reciprocal interaction between epilepsy and sleep. The book, Epilepsy and Sleep is a ground-breaking, comprehensive source for exploring this correlation and is especially timely because of the considerable growth in the understanding of the physiology underlying both sleep and epilepsy. An insightful reference, it presents many of the complex physiologic mechanisms underlying epilepsy--sleep interaction and highlights sleeping disorder symptoms that may be related to epilepsy. The annual cost of treating epilepsy in the United States is an estimated $12.5 billion, according to a report issued January 2000 by The Epilepsy Foundation. The Foundation also reports that more than 180,000 Americans develop epilepsy each year. However, thousands more cases may be misdiagnosed as sleeping disorders, causing these figures to jump significantly. This correlation and diagnosis can help determine the correct type of medication to administer to regulate the symptoms, in turn saving hundreds of hours of lost time at work and millions of dollars.