Breathing and sleeping are two very basic processes. If you stop breathing for more than a few minutes, life itself stops. Sleep is a little more forgiving, but if you stop sleeping, or fail to achieve a truly rejuvenating sleep, it is not long before ...

Sleep apnea, which is characterized by frequent episodes of apnea or hypopnea during sleep, is among the most common chronic disorders in adults. Sleep apnea associated with hypersomnolence is conservatively estimated to affect 2 to 4 percent of the ...

Each year thousands of reviewers contribute their expertise to peer review, a process that contributes critically to the quality of the Journal. The editors and the authors of the papers submitted to the Journal are grateful for the help of all our ...

This issue of the Journal contains two articles on Oregon's Death with Dignity Act. In a Health Policy Report, Steinbrook provides an overview of the 1994 Oregon law legalizing physician-assisted suicide. He discusses the effects of the law on the care of terminally ill patients and the various legal challenges that have been made to the law. The most recent challenge is the directive issued by the attorney general of the United States, John Ashcroft.

To the Editor: Although physician-assisted suicide has been a legal option for terminally ill residents of Oregon since 1997,¹ it remains highly controversial. On November 6, 2001, U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft issued a new interpretation of the ...

To the Editor: The Deep-Brain Stimulation for Parkinson's Disease Study Group (Sept. 27 issue)¹ reported the results of a prospective, double-blind, crossover study in patients with advanced Parkinson's disease, in whom electrodes were implanted in the ...

To the Editor: In their interesting study of the prognostic value of brain (B-type) natriuretic peptide in patients with acute coronary syndromes, de Lemos et al. (Oct. 4 issue)¹ did not thoroughly assess the possible confounding effect of a well-...

To the Editor: In their article on prophylaxis against postoperative ileus with the use of ADL 8-2698, Taguchi et al. (Sept. 27 issue)¹ refer to our report on intravenous methylnaltrexone, a peripheral opioid antagonist.² We call attention to an error in ...

To the Editor: In their editorial (Sept. 20 issue),¹ Huston and Peterson discuss developments in the debate about withholding proven treatment in clinical research. Unfortunately, the editorialists, citing the transcript of a television report in which ...

To the Editor: I am surprised that the authors of the letter entitled “Spironolactone in Addition to ACE Inhibition to Reduce Proteinuria in Patients with Chronic Renal Disease” (Sept. 20 issue)¹ concluded that the reduction in proteinuria seen after the ...

To the Editor: Sabbà et al. (Sept. 20 issue)¹ report the efficacy of tranexamic acid in reducing epistaxis in hereditary hemorrhagic telangiectasia. However, the title of their communication may be misleading. The authors do not mention the weight of the ...

A Medical History of African Americans and the Problem of Race, the first volume of An American Health Dilemma, is an ambitious and woefully overdue magnum opus. In it Byrd and Clayton present and analyze the historical roots of the apartheid that ...

The Unfit: A History of a Bad Idea is a valuable contribution to historical scholarship relating to the eugenics movements of the 19th and 20th centuries. Carlson recounts some of the familiar episodes described in several other books on eugenics ...

Preimplantation Genetic Diagnosis by Comparative Genomic Hybridization Editorial, N Engl J Med 2001:345;1569-1571.. The sentence that begins at the bottom of page 1569 and continues on page 1570 should have read, “Currently, the most common techniques for ...

The battle over physician-assisted suicide in Oregon never seems to end. On November 6, 2001, U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft ruled that the Oregon law legalizing physician-assisted suicide violated the federal Controlled Substances Act, a 1970 law ...