Kidney stones are a common problem. Estimates indicate that 15 percent of the population will form a stone some time during their life and many of these patients will also go on to form recurrent stones as well. It is also recognized that due to the cost of evaluation and treatment that significant healthcare dollars are expended for this disorder. Finally, and unfortunately, proper evaluation of patients with kidney stones is often not undertaken for it is well recognized that recurrent disease can often be prevented or reduced with proper dietary/medical intervention.

The Kidney Stones Handbook: A Patient's Guide to Hope, Cure and Prevention addresses the problem of kidney stone_ disease. In a simple and straightforward manner, the authors review the causes and types of stones, the evaluation that is necessary and outline methods of treatment and prevention. In that many years ago many patients required operations to remove stones, today fragmentation and removal can be accomplished with minimal intervention. Though only few stones can be dissolved, many can be prevented with appropriate diet and medications. These aspects of the disorder are reviewed by the authors.

Many handbooks are available today which are written for patients with many different disorders. The current book is unique for its depiction of kidney stone disease. All patients who either have formed kidney stones or are prone to them because of family history or lifestyle pattern should find it of interest and of value.