Neurologists and non-neurologists alike can no longer ignore diseases of the neuromuscular system. The old dogma that these disorders are both uncommon and untreatable has lost its validity. Recent technological advances have enabled us to study more precisely muscle and nerve anatomy, physiology and biochem- istry. Because of this progress, we are now recognizing new neuromuscular di- seases as well as diagnosing more subtle cases of myasthenia gravis, myotonia, and metabolic myopathies. Treatment of the neuromuscular diseases has also un- dergone dramatic change based on new discoveries in...