NEED 
Sleep-related breathing disorders may alter the nature of sleep, and, conversely, sleep alters breathing pattern, ventilation, and gas exchange. These interactions may be sufficient in disorders of sleep and breathing to result in rather diverse consequences that may amplify both the complexity of the disorders and the burden of disease. Some of these interactions are very familiar and intuitive to clinicians. The practice of assessing the burden of disease by cataloging subjective complaints and objective information under one organ system is increasingly inadequate in medicine, and the model of sleep and breathing epitomizes the necessity for a multidisciplinary understanding of disease and the metrics that must be used to assess it. This conference will address the interactions between sleep and breathing and how this interaction influences understanding of disorders.

PURPOSE 
This four-day conference is designed to provide state-of-the-art treatment protocols and clinical strategies for the management of patients with sleep disorders and other prominent concerns in pulmonary diseases, including COPD, community-acquired pneumonia, asthma, in-patient management of pneumonia, interstitial lung diseases and others. It is critical for healthcare professionals to recognize and be prepared to diagnose, treat and prevent these chronic diseases to improve patient outcomes.