This sourcebook has been created for patients who have decided to make education and Internet-based research an integral part of the treatment process. Although it gives information useful to doctors, caregivers and other health professionals, it also tells patients where and how to look for information covering virtually all topics related to kidney failure, from the essentials to the most advanced areas of research. The title of this book includes the word official. This reflects the fact that the sourcebook draws from public, academic, government, and peer-reviewed research. Selected readings from various agencies are reproduced to give you some of the latest official information available to date on kidney failure. Following an introductory chapter, the sourcebook is organized into three parts. PART I: THE ESSENTIALS; Chapter 1. The Essentials on Kidney Failure: Guidelines; Chapter 2. Seeking Guidance; Chapter 3. Clinical Trials and Kidney Failure; PART II: ADDITIONAL RESOURCES AND ADVANCED MATERIAL; Chapter 4. Studies on Kidney Failure; Chapter 5. Books on Kidney Failure; Chapter 6. Multimedia on Kidney Failure; Chapter 7. Periodicals and News on Kidney Failure; Chapter 8. Physician Guidelines and Databases; Chapter 9. Dissertations on Kidney Failure; PART III. APPENDICES; Appendix A. Researching Your Medications; Appendix B. Researching Alternative Medicine; Appendix C. Researching Nutrition; Appendix D. Finding Medical Libraries; Appendix E. NIH Consensus Statement on Morbidity and Mortality of Dialysis; Appendix F. Your Rights and Insurance; ONLINE GLOSSARIES; KIDNEY FAILURE GLOSSARY; INDEX. Related topics include: Acute kidney failure, Chronic kidney failure, Chronic renalinsufficiency, End stage renal disease, End-stage renal disease, Functional renal failure of cirrhosis, Hemodynamic renal failure of cirrhosis, Hepatic nephropathy, Hepato-Renal Syndrome, Heyd's syndrome, Kidney failure, Kidney failure - acute, Kidney failure - chronic.