Preface In Greek mythology Hypnos, the personification of sleep, was the twin brother of Thanatos, the personification of death, and images of Hypnos were often found close to images of death. Although a good sleep is a prerequisite for good health it is not too far fetched to associate sleep with death. It has been observed for a long time that sleep is related to a number of pathological conditions. This has become even more obvious in the last decades, during which time sleep-related disorders have attracted great interest, both from a scientific and a clinical perspective. In 1998 a European Respiratory Monograph focusing on sleep-related disorders was published. In that issue, sleep apnoea was a focus but nocturnal asthma and sleep and breathing in COPD also had their own chapters. The current ERM is entirely dedicated to sleep apnoea and it is obvious that there has been a tremendous development within this field during the last 12 yrs. Thus, in this issue a number of new fields of interest have been covered. For example, sleep apnoea in children, diabetes and the metabolic aspects of obstructive sleep apnoea syndrome, public health and legal implications (in which transportation safety is discussed), relation to systemic hypertension, drug treatment and weight-loss treatment are now presented in separate chapters. The Guest Editors Walter McNicholas and Marisa Bonsignore are to be congratulated for a very comprehensive and important book aimed at a field which possesses a great interest in a large area of the medical profession. After 4 yrs as Editor in Chief it is now time for me to move on. I would, therefore, like to take this opportunity to thank the European Respiratory Society (ERS) for appointing me to this position and entrusting me with such an excellent publication, it has been both an interesting and pleasurable task for me to undertake. I have had the great privilege of working with an excellent editorial board, consisting of John Gibson, Fan Chung, Phillippe Camus and Kai-Hakon ˚ Carlsen, who all expertly contributed to each publication by providing invaluable opinions regarding content and author structure. I also wish to thank the ERS Publications Office in Sheffield, UK, for a marvellous job throughout these 4 yrs. The ERM is produced by real professionals and it has been a pleasure to work with you all. It is now clear that the ERM is highly appreciated among the ERS members and that it is used as a valuable source of information within the whole area of respiratory medicine. I want to congratulate Tobias Welte on taking over the responsibility as Editor in Chief, knowing that he has a very interesting work assignment for the years to come. I am convinced that the ERM will go from strength to strength and become even more popular under his management. Editor in Chief K. Larsson Eur Respir Mon 2010. 50, vi. Printed in UK all rights reserved, Copyright ERS 2010. European Respiratory Monograph ISSN: 1025-448x. DOI: 10.1183/1025448x.00025710 vi
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