Safety and Efficacy of an Ayurvedic Formulation Cystone in Management of Ureteric Calculi: A Prospective Randomized Placebo Controlled Study (Report‪)‬

INTRODUCTION Humankind is known to be suffering from urinary stone disease, which was first noticed by Egyptian mummies dated to 4800 BCE (1). Hippocrates in the 4th century BCE noted renal stones together with a renal abscess and wrote in the Hippocratic oath "I will not cut the stone" (Clendening, 1960). Urolithiasis in its different forms is a frequently encountered urological condition. For many years it has been at the forefront of urology. This situation might have changed with the advent of new, less invasive approaches to the management of urinary calculi. Nevertheless, urinary stones continue to occupy an important place in everyday urological practice. Currently urinary stones affect 10-12% of the population with a peak incidence at 20-40 years of age (Wasserstein, 1998). It is one of the most common and painful urologic disorder of the urinary tract that affects more than 3 million people every year alone in the United States (Hollingsworth et al., 2006). The lifetime risk of developing urolithiasis ranges between 5 and 12% (Alok et al., 2008) and significantly affects the economy and public health as it has a high rate of recurrence (Hiatt et al., 1982).