The Use of Amino Acid Precursors in Nitrogen-Accumulation Diseases

Abstract

NITROGEN-accumulation diseases comprise chiefly chronic renal failure and portal–systemic encephalopathy. The major approach to treatment is preventive, resting on early diagnosis and measures to slow the progress of the disease. Present screening methods, however, do not reveal either renal or liver disease until about three fourths of the total parenchyma has been affected,^{1 , 2} so that early diagnosis is hampered unless new methods are developed.The annual death rate for renal failure is 15 per 100,000 — probably a conservative figure, since many nephritic deaths are ultimately classified under cardiovascular disease. Moreover, this rate has not improved in the past decade . . .