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Sleep-related disorders and internal diseases
Book
113
Reviews
Sleep-Related Disorders and Internal Diseases. Edited Springer. Berlin. 1987.
by J. H. PETER. T. PODSZL~S and P. VON WICHER~.
One of the X7 contributors (Martin) to this book opens his paper by stating that ‘Today’s physician is fortunate to be associated with a time of rapid development in information on cardiorespiratory disorders during sleep. We are living in a time where knowledge in the area of respiration and sleep is mounting in such a way that we can transcribe it to the clinical setting and to treatment.’ Thus statement is probably correct but unfortunately this particular book is not going to be of much benefit to most physicians in this transcription process. The three ‘editors’ appear to have simply assembled a large number of papers concerning sleep and sleep patho-physiology. but placed little order on the final product. The articles are assembled into eight sections. These include: sleep and disordered sleep: measurement; three sections on epidemiology; cardiorespiratory disorders during sleep and haemodynamics; cardiovascular risk and sleep apnoea; and. finally, a section on therapy. One is hard put to find more than a single really worthwile paper in each section. The referencing system in each article is not consistent throughout the book and there are glaring errors that the editors should have snuffed out long before their appearance in print, for example the statement ‘during the manic phase the patient is insomniac while during the depressed phase he is hypersomniac’ in one of the early papers. The repetition concerning the epidemiology of the impact of snoring on cardiovascular risk is unnecessary. The epidemiology studies vary enormously in their quality with one based on a study of 6000 individuals to another with only IO subjects in each group and then claiming to give an age relationship to snoring. The most disappointing aspect of this volume is what appears to be a Freudian slip printed on the back cover which states ‘This hunk (my emphasis) attempts to define the interaction between sleep-related disorders and internal diseases, going beyond the mcne commonly known connections between sleeprelated and breathing disorders.’ Unfortunately, the book is simply a bank of papers and there is very little more than an emphasis on sleep-related breathing and cardiovascular disorders. The above criticisms aside. there are a number of interesting and worthwhile papers in this collection. Koella’s discussion of the interaction of drugs with sleep makes interesting reading even if it is somewhat incomplete. Consideration of sleep fragmentation by Rothenberg is particularly illuminating for those involved in sleep research. Akerstedt’s paper on ‘Sleep and stress’ and the review of therapeutic approaches to sleep apnoea by Kurtz and Krieger are two papers which stand out in their balanced review of current information. The paper by Douglas on breathing during sleep in normal subjects is a triumph of clarity of writing and sensible deductions from the information presented. Martin (quoted above) goes on to quote Robin (unattributed) as stating ‘a sleeping patient is still a patient. His disease not only goes on while he sleeps, but indeed may progress in an entirely different fashion from its progression during the waking state’. This is undoubtedly true and there is now a great need for a scholarly review of current information specific to each organ system that is now available. This book (despite its claims) falls far short of such a requirement. COLIN M. SHAPIRO
University
of Edinburgh
Cancer Surveys. Advances & Prospects in Clinical, Epidemiological and Laboratory Oncology. Vol. 6. No. 3. Psychological Aspects of Cancer. Edited by S. GREER. Oxford University Press. Oxford. 1987. fl4.50. THIS SLIM volume is an important addition to the Cancer Surveys series. acknowledging as it does the tremendous growth of interest and research endeavour in recent years in the psychological aspects of cancer. Given the inevitable cultural bias in psychosocial research particularly compounded by international differences in health care systems, it is relevant to note that more than half of the papers are British in origin. hut it is perhaps surprising that the major contributions of the Manchester team led by Peter McGuire are not represented. This is a useful. if somewhat idiosyncratic, selection of papers. Some themes are over represented, for example the historical development of interest in stress and personality factors in the aetiology of cancer, relative to issues of equal topical interest which are barely mentioned or omitted altogether. Issues around communication could usefully have been included, particularly given their relevance for gaining informed consent in clinical trials and for improved detection of psychological morbidity. Whereas a review of the contribution of alternative medicine to cancer care might reasonably have been felt to be beyond the scope of this volume, some evaluation of current intervention strategies would have been useful in the current climate of proliferating self-help and support groups.
113
Reviews
Sleep-Related Disorders and Internal Diseases. Edited Springer. Berlin. 1987.
by J. H. PETER. T. PODSZL~S and P. VON WICHER~.
One of the X7 contributors (Martin) to this book opens his paper by stating that ‘Today’s physician is fortunate to be associated with a time of rapid development in information on cardiorespiratory disorders during sleep. We are living in a time where knowledge in the area of respiration and sleep is mounting in such a way that we can transcribe it to the clinical setting and to treatment.’ Thus statement is probably correct but unfortunately this particular book is not going to be of much benefit to most physicians in this transcription process. The three ‘editors’ appear to have simply assembled a large number of papers concerning sleep and sleep patho-physiology. but placed little order on the final product. The articles are assembled into eight sections. These include: sleep and disordered sleep: measurement; three sections on epidemiology; cardiorespiratory disorders during sleep and haemodynamics; cardiovascular risk and sleep apnoea; and. finally, a section on therapy. One is hard put to find more than a single really worthwile paper in each section. The referencing system in each article is not consistent throughout the book and there are glaring errors that the editors should have snuffed out long before their appearance in print, for example the statement ‘during the manic phase the patient is insomniac while during the depressed phase he is hypersomniac’ in one of the early papers. The repetition concerning the epidemiology of the impact of snoring on cardiovascular risk is unnecessary. The epidemiology studies vary enormously in their quality with one based on a study of 6000 individuals to another with only IO subjects in each group and then claiming to give an age relationship to snoring. The most disappointing aspect of this volume is what appears to be a Freudian slip printed on the back cover which states ‘This hunk (my emphasis) attempts to define the interaction between sleep-related disorders and internal diseases, going beyond the mcne commonly known connections between sleeprelated and breathing disorders.’ Unfortunately, the book is simply a bank of papers and there is very little more than an emphasis on sleep-related breathing and cardiovascular disorders. The above criticisms aside. there are a number of interesting and worthwhile papers in this collection. Koella’s discussion of the interaction of drugs with sleep makes interesting reading even if it is somewhat incomplete. Consideration of sleep fragmentation by Rothenberg is particularly illuminating for those involved in sleep research. Akerstedt’s paper on ‘Sleep and stress’ and the review of therapeutic approaches to sleep apnoea by Kurtz and Krieger are two papers which stand out in their balanced review of current information. The paper by Douglas on breathing during sleep in normal subjects is a triumph of clarity of writing and sensible deductions from the information presented. Martin (quoted above) goes on to quote Robin (unattributed) as stating ‘a sleeping patient is still a patient. His disease not only goes on while he sleeps, but indeed may progress in an entirely different fashion from its progression during the waking state’. This is undoubtedly true and there is now a great need for a scholarly review of current information specific to each organ system that is now available. This book (despite its claims) falls far short of such a requirement. COLIN M. SHAPIRO
University
of Edinburgh
Cancer Surveys. Advances & Prospects in Clinical, Epidemiological and Laboratory Oncology. Vol. 6. No. 3. Psychological Aspects of Cancer. Edited by S. GREER. Oxford University Press. Oxford. 1987. fl4.50. THIS SLIM volume is an important addition to the Cancer Surveys series. acknowledging as it does the tremendous growth of interest and research endeavour in recent years in the psychological aspects of cancer. Given the inevitable cultural bias in psychosocial research particularly compounded by international differences in health care systems, it is relevant to note that more than half of the papers are British in origin. hut it is perhaps surprising that the major contributions of the Manchester team led by Peter McGuire are not represented. This is a useful. if somewhat idiosyncratic, selection of papers. Some themes are over represented, for example the historical development of interest in stress and personality factors in the aetiology of cancer, relative to issues of equal topical interest which are barely mentioned or omitted altogether. Issues around communication could usefully have been included, particularly given their relevance for gaining informed consent in clinical trials and for improved detection of psychological morbidity. Whereas a review of the contribution of alternative medicine to cancer care might reasonably have been felt to be beyond the scope of this volume, some evaluation of current intervention strategies would have been useful in the current climate of proliferating self-help and support groups.