Abstract
To study the effects of dietary treatment on the prognosis of patients with chronic renal failure (CRF), an attempt has been made to differentiate between two groups of patients, one of which continued on the diet (group 1), the other of which eventually underwent dialysis treatment (group 2), over the past four years. The diet consisted of high-quality proteins (20g or 30g per day) and high-energy sources (2, 000kcal per day) and was used depending on the patient's renal function. Thirty-two patients comprised group 1 and 50 belonged to group 2. Fourteen dropped out. The average period of dietary treatment was 23.8±16.1 (mean±SD) months for group 1 and 14.1±10.9 months for group 2. Clinical data obtained at the initiation and end of the follow-up were as follows. Serum urea nitrogen was 50.1±21.4mg/dl vs 41.2±21.4mg/dl (p<0.02) in group 1 and 82.3±31.0mg/dl vs 94.4±27.4mg/dl (p<0.02) in group 2. Serum creatinine was 4.0±1.6mg/dl vs 5.0±2.7mg/dl (nonsignificant) in group 1 and 7.4±2.9mg/dl vs 12.7±4.5mg/dl (p<0.001) in group 2. Serum total protein levels remained unchanged in both groups. Hematocrit value was not significantly changed in group 1, but decreased in group 2.
The above results strongly suggest that prognosis of chronic renal failure patients has been markedly improved by dietary treatment not only by delaying the introduction of dialysis therapy, but also by preventing the progression of impaired renal function.
