Book excerpt: This book describes human hereditary ion channel diseases of voltage- and ligand-gated ion channels covering the diverse fields of medicine myology, neurology, cardiology, and nephrology requiring a wide and interdisciplinary readership. Interesting parallels in pathogenetic mechanisms of disease are especially emphasized to interest even highly specialized readers in entities outside of their fields. Each author has written an objective overview of his or her particular subject in a way that should allow the reader within a short period of time to obtain a comprehensive picture of the present state of art.