Sleep HERMES: a European training project for respiratory sleep medicine

The clinical characterisation and description of the obstructive sleep apnoea/hypopnoea syndrome (OSAHS) and related syndromes have been revealed by several epidemiological studies conducted in the late 20th and 21st centuries. These highly prevalent syndromes affect about 9% of middle-aged males and 4% of females. These syndromes have serious medical and social consequences, such as cardiovascular or metabolic diseases and even premature death. Consequently, respiratory sleep medicine has evolved and progressed rapidly within the sleep medicine field over the last decades. New diagnostic and therapeutic techniques appeared in response to an increasing number of patients and clinical interv…