Intermittent Hypoxia and Human Diseases

Intermittent hypoxia can cause significant structural and functional impact on the systemic, organic, cellular and molecular processes of human physiology and pathophysiology. This book focuses on the most updated scientific understanding of the adaptive (beneficial) and maladaptive (detrimental) responses to intermittent hypoxia and their potential pathogenetic or prophylactic roles in the development and progression of major human diseases. This is a comprehensive monograph for clinicians, research scientists, academic faculty, postgraduate and medical students, and allied health professionals who are interested in enhancing their up-to-date knowledge of intermittent hypoxia research and its translational applications in preventing and treating major human diseases. The scientific field of intermittent hypoxia and its effects on living organisms is surrounded by divergent and controversial findings. Does the condition play pathogenic roles in disease states, such as sleep apnea, chronic pulmonary disease, cardiovascular disease and cancer? Or does exposure to intermittent hypoxia actually induce protective responses? Dealing with these long-standing controversies and new concepts, Intermittent Hypoxia and Human Diseases provides an open forum for the most up-to-date scientific understanding of both adaptive (beneficial) and maladaptive (detrimental) responses to intermittent hypoxia and their potential pathogenic and prophylactic roles in the development and progression of major human diseases. The Editors and their extremely experienced contributors have assembled this highly disease-oriented book and all the fundamental research findings are selectively presented as mechanistic explanations of a particular human disease. It is therefore especially prepared for the interests of clinicians, allied healthcare professionals, athletic trainers, and translational medical researchers.