Dietary therapy in chronic renal failure (A Comedy of Errors)

Controversies still exist about the use and the effects of low protein diet s in chronic renal failure. The contrasting - sometimes opposite - results published over the last 30 y ears in several studies can be read and explained by a series of errors inc luded in those studies. The new Comedy of Errors starts from the misinterpretation of experimental studies, the lack of appropriacy of clinical trials' design; it continues w ith neglecting the role of patients' compliance as well as of other clinica l findings, here included the role of blood pressure. Finally pitfalls in the intrepretation of the results of clinical trials an d meta-analyses were identified.