Book Review
The Aging Kidney in Health and Disease
N Engl J Med 2008; 359:438July 24, 2008
- Article
The Aging Kidney in Health and Disease
Edited by Juan F. Macías Núñez, J. Stewart Cameron, and Dimitrios G. Oreopoulos. 553 pp., illustrated. New York, Springer, 2008. $179. ISBN: 978-0-387-72658-8In the past half-century, life expectancy has increased considerably. As a result, we need to develop a more comprehensive understanding of aging than we have now. Whether in health or in disease, age affects many parts of the body — including the kidneys — and this book, The Aging Kidney in Health and Disease, delves deeply into these matters in a well-organized and readable fashion. It gives readers an overview of the physiology and pathology of the kidney during the aging process.
The initial chapters review the biologic and physiological events that accompany the aging process in healthy kidneys. Discussions about changes in factors such as renal concentration, dilution capacity, and glomerular filtration rate are included in this section. Also included is an up-to-date review of the literature on these topics. Chapter 4, “Biology of the Aging Process and Its Clinical Consequences,” devotes many pages to aging in other organ systems, which could be a distraction to some readers. There is, unfortunately, a paucity of illustrations and flowcharts in these early chapters.
The chapters in the second half of the book cover specific pathologic processes that affect the aging kidney. In addition to the extensive and heavily documented review of clinical features, diagnostic tools, and therapeutic options, the editors have included two chapters that discuss the quality-of-life issues and ethical dilemmas that doctors face in the treatment of elderly patients with uremia.
In summary, The Aging Kidney in Health and Disease will serve as a multidisciplinary guide for general physicians, internists, nephrologists, and geriatricians who want to improve their knowledge of geriatric nephrology.
Jane F. Reckelhoff, Ph.D.
Julio C. Sartori-Valinotti, M.D.
University of Mississippi Medical Center, Jackson, MS 39216
jreckelhoff@physiology.umsmed. edu
