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Introduction

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Book cover Sleep Disorders in Women

Part of the book series: Current Clinical Neurology ((CCNEU))

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Abstract

There is a strong gender bias when it comes to both diagnosing and researching sleep disorders. This has started to change over the past decade but the sex differences in sleep and sleep disorder characteristics are still underappreciated.

It is important to understand how sex-related differences in sleep and its regulation influence the risk for and mechanisms of sleep disorders and other diseases. There are sleep disorders that are unique to women such as perimenstrual hypersomnia while others like insomnia, restless legs syndrome, and sleep-related eating disorder are much more prevalent among female patients. During pregnancy women are uniquely susceptible to sleep disorders, which in turn can affect the health of both mother and fetus. Menopause is also a time where there is a significant increase in the risk of various sleep disorders.

The book is divided into sections based on women’s life stages and discussed different disorders as it pertains to those particular stages. We have expanded and updated all of the chapters and added one on practical management of insomnia during menopause. We hope this book will serve as a primer for clinicians interested in sleep disorders in women and will raise awareness in the medical community of the importance for screening, properly diagnosing and treating these disorders in a population in whom they have been long neglected.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Neurology, Sleep Medicine, Northwestern University, Chicago, IL, 60611, USA

    Hrayr P. Attarian

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  1. Hrayr P. Attarian
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Correspondence to Hrayr P. Attarian .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Neurology, Sleep Medicine, Northwestern University, N. Lake Shore Drive 710, Chicago, 60611, Illinois, USA

    Hrayr P. Attarian

  2. , Department of Neurology, NorthShore Univ. HealthSystem, Ridge Avenue 2650, Evanston, 60201, Illinois, USA

    Mari Viola-Saltzman

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Attarian, H.P. (2013). Introduction. In: Attarian, H., Viola-Saltzman, M. (eds) Sleep Disorders in Women. Current Clinical Neurology. Humana Press, Totowa, NJ. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-62703-324-4_1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-62703-324-4_1

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  • Publisher Name: Humana Press, Totowa, NJ

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-62703-323-7

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-62703-324-4

  • eBook Packages: MedicineMedicine (R0)

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