Sleep Medicine Handbook 2026 connects sleep physiology, circadian biology, respiratory control, neurochemical regulation, and clinical measurement to the decisions made in sleep clinic, laboratory interpretation, PAP follow-up, and long-term care. Written for practicing physicians, fellows, advanced clinicians, and sleep-lab professionals, it moves from foundational sleep architecture through insomnia, circadian disorders, obstructive and central apnea, PAP titration, hypersomnolence, parasomnias, movement disorders, pediatric sleep, pregnancy, comorbidity, telemedicine, and pharmacology.
The book's organizing method, The Sleep Signal Interpretation System, helps clinicians move from symptom, tracing, device report, medication pattern, or caregiver history to the next safe clinical action.
What This Handbook Helps You Do
Interpret polysomnography, hypnograms, respiratory-event tracings, oxygenation, CO₂ trends, limb EMG, and video PSG - so raw sleep data become clinically actionable signals.
Select HSAT, PSG, actigraphy, sleep diaries, MSLT, MWT, PAP downloads, and CO₂ monitoring - matching each test to the clinical question instead of the default pathway.
Diagnose and phenotype insomnia, circadian rhythm disorders, OSA, central apnea, hypoventilation, narcolepsy, idiopathic hypersomnia, parasomnias, and sleep-related movement disorders - with attention to mimics and comorbidity.
Manage CPAP and PAP titration, adherence, leak, residual events, remote monitoring, non-PAP therapy, and advanced breathing disorders - using physiologic response rather than event counts alone.
Apply sleep medicine across pediatrics, pregnancy, menopause, neurologic disease, chronic pain, psychiatric illness, cardiometabolic disease, pulmonary disease, and kidney disease - where context changes interpretation.
Use sleep pharmacology, wake-promoting agents, melatonin timing, RLS therapies, deprescribing, and medication safety principles - without losing sight of respiratory risk, polypharmacy, and older adult safety.
Navigate digital sleep health, wearables, telemedicine, digital CBT-I, and hybrid clinic models - while recognizing reliability limits and escalation thresholds.
Use this handbook to read the signal correctly, choose the next step confidently, and deliver safer care for patients with disordered sleep.