Short description:

Understanding Kidney Diseases makes accessible a medical specialty that is commonly regarded by students as difficult. The target audience is undergraduate and non-specialist postgraduate students. 

The book is unique in combining the reference material normally found in a nephrology textbook with the everyday clinical applicability of a medical handbook. The chapters are structured on the approach that a clinician should take when assessing someone with a possible kidney problem. The factual content is brought to life by over 60 case studies and is illustrated by a high density of figures, many displaying information in a graphical form that avoids off-putting data and text. 

It is an authored book, written in a consistent style that is deliberately clear, concise and easy to follow. Nonetheless, it is referenced in as much detail as would be expected in a conventional textbook. It explains principles and concepts that help students understand and interpret clinical problems. No other textbook of nephrology combines these features. 

The book emphasises a patient-centred approach to practice. Students? knowledge can be put it into practice by answering a bank of questions that patients frequently ask, and tested against traditional multiple-choice questions. 

In summary, Understanding Kidney Diseases gives students confidence in helping someone with a kidney problem. Praised by leading nephrologists, it is the book the authors wish they could have read when they were students.

Long description:

Understanding Kidney Diseases makes accessible a medical specialty that is commonly regarded by students as difficult. The target audience is undergraduate and non-specialist postgraduate students. 

The book is unique in combining the reference material normally found in a nephrology textbook with the everyday clinical applicability of a medical handbook. The chapters are structured on the approach that a clinician should take when assessing someone with a possible kidney problem. The factual content is brought to life by over 60 case studies and is illustrated by a high density of figures, many displaying information in a graphical form that avoids off-putting data and text. 

It is an authored book, written in a consistent style that is deliberately clear, concise and easy to follow. Nonetheless, it is referenced in as much detail as would be expected in a conventional textbook. It explains principles and concepts that help students understand and interpret clinical problems. No other textbook of nephrology combines these features. 

The book emphasises a patient-centred approach to practice. Students? knowledge can be put it into practice by answering a bank of questions that patients frequently ask, and tested against traditional multiple-choice questions. 

In summary, Understanding Kidney Diseases gives students confidence in helping someone with a kidney problem. Praised by leading nephrologists, it is the book the authors wish they could have read when they were students.

Table of Contents:

1. Kidney anatomy and physiology - The basis of clinical nephrology.- 2. Measuring kidney function - Quantifying glomerular filtration from laboratory tests.- 3. Plot all the dots - Graphs reveal the progression of kidney disease.- 4. Kidney function in acute illness and acute kidney injury.- 5. How are you feeling? - Symptoms of kidney disease.- 6. What is your lifestyle, occupation and past medical history? - How social, environmental and other medical conditions are linked to kidney disease.- 7. Do you have diabetes mellitus? - How diabetes and its treatments are linked to kidney disease.- 8. Are you pregnant or planning a pregnancy? - How pregnancy affects the kidneys and vice versa.- 9. What is your family history? - The molecular genetics of inherited kidney diseases.- 10. What have you been taking? - Nephrotoxicity from drugs and other chemicals.- 11. Height and weight - The effects of kidney disease on development; links between obesity and kidney disease.- 12. Blood pressure - The interactions between hypertension and kidney disease.- 13. Urine testing - Understanding haematuria, proteinuria and urinary infection.- 14. May I examine you?- Physical signs related to kidney diseases.- 15. Full Blood Count - Haematology results and kidney diseases.- 16. Acid, base and the kidneys.- 17. Calcium, phosphate and bones - How bone and mineral metabolism is altered in kidney disease.- 18. Immunology - Serological tests that help diagnose kidney diseases.- 19. Urinary tract imaging - Strengths and weaknesses of different radiology modalities.- 20. Should we biopsy a kidney? - Balancing the benefits against the risks.- 21. Kidney stone disease - A link between nephrology and urology.- 22. Planning treatment - When and how to prepare for a life with kidney disease.- 23. Kidney replacement therapy - Common problems in dialysis and transplant patients.- 24. Frequently asked questions.