Department of Nephrology and Hypertension, Renal Stone Clinic, The Cleveland Clinic Foundation, Ohio 44195, USA.
The traditional wisdom on preventing calcium stones, the most common form of kidney stone, has been to advise patients to limit dietary calcium. Research has proved this wrong, however. Normal dietary calcium intake, along with reduced salt and protein, is now advised. This paper also summarizes the diagnosis and treatment of the less-common forms of kidney stones-struvite, uric acid, and cystine.