 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
|
|
|||||||||
|
|||||||||||
Director, VANCHCS Drug Information Service Clinical Pharmacy Specialist, Psychiatry Adjunct Clinical Professor of Pharmacy, UOP Northern California Health Care System Travis Air Force Base, California
| Edited by Hrayr P Attarian MD. Published by Humana Press,
Totowa, NJ, 2004. ISBN 1-58829-272-X. Clothbound, xv + 191 pp. (23.5 x
15.5 cm), $89.50.
www.humanapress.com
|
Published Online, June 8, 2004. www.theannals.com, DOI 10.1345/aph.1D554
The authors have succeeded in providing in-depth information on the evaluation of insomnia in an easily readable format, but could have provided a more in-depth review in the area of insomnia treatment. The development of appropriate sleep cycles from infancy is described. A review of poor habits, diseases, physiologic, or psychological processes that can cause insomnia is emphasized. Also, the importance of patient-specific sleep requirements and evaluation in persons suffering from insomnia is addressed.
This handbook is divided into 4 parts. The first is an overview of insomnia, the second and third discuss various types of insomnia (primary, secondary), and the last reviews nonpharmacologic and pharmacologic insomnia treatment options. Some of the primary insomnias discussed include insomnia in children and adolescents, psychophysiological insomnia, and idiopathic insomnia. The secondary insomnias are medical, neurologic, and psychiatric. Each insomnia classification chapter is sub-divided into definition, historical perspectives, epidemiology, etiology, pathogenesis and pathophysiology, clinical manifestations, differential diagnosis, diagnostic workup, prevention, prognosis and complications, and management.
The strengths of this text are the extensive descriptions of the primary and secondary insomnias, quick-reference charts, use of patient cases for explanation of various insomnias and their treatment, and inclusion of some practical items such as sleep logs. The chapter on pharmacologic treatment provides a brief review. It is 14 pages long and provides some clinical trial data, but omits practical clinical information (ie, dosing, patient education information, monitoring); however, the section on herbal therapy (ie, melatonin, valerian root) is comprehensive. Pharmacologic and nonpharmacologic options are addressed as well in each management/treatment section.
Texts labeled as handbooks are generally concise references that can be quickly utilized at the time of a patient visit. With regard to insomnia evaluation, this handbook concept holds true, but not so for pharmacologic treatment. It does provide valid pharmacologic treatment options, but requires consultation with other references to obtain practical information such as dosing (ie, starting dose, titration parameters, maximum dose, dose adjustments).
The Clinical Handbook of Insomnia is an excellent source for the clinician primarily focusing on the evaluation of insomnia and those requiring a point of reference for the treatment options for primary and secondary insomnias. It is not recommended for the clinician in need of a concise reference for the pharmacologic treatment of insomnia.
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
