CURRENT ASPECTS OF EPIDEMIOLOGY AND NUTRITION IN URINARY STONE DISEASE

Current examples for the development of urinary stone disease are disc ussed by means of data from the literature and our own studies. Urinar y stone disease has gained increasing significance due to changes in l iving conditions, i.e., industrialization and malnutrition. Changes in prevalence and incidence, the occurrence of stone types and stone loc ation, and the manner of stone removal are explained. The importance o f nutrition in the prevention of calcium oxalate stone disease is disc ussed in terms of fluid intake, calcium and oxalate metabolism, and di etary fat intake. The results of a study on a standardized mixed diet or an ovo-lactovegetarian diet show that well-balanced nutrition with consecutive high intake of fluids leads to a significant decrease in t he risk for urinary stone formation (calculated as relative supersatur ation with calcium oxalate by the computer program EQUIL).