Dietitian Katrina Campbell, who graduated with her PhD from QUT, monitored the diets of 62 pre-dialysis patients at the Royal Brisbane and Women's Hospital (RB&WH) and supported them with regular contact as part of her thesis.

Dr Campbell said depending on the patient's individual situation, a dietitian could intervene by suggesting things such as increasing the amount of physical activity, modifying recipes, increasing high-energy food, controlling protein intake or having regular small meals.

"People who suffer severe chronic kidney disease clearly need support with their diets," she said. "When their kidneys function at less than 30 per cent they often lose their appetites, which can lead to malnutrition and compound their health problems."

Dr Campbell said the participants in the study ranged for 40 to 80 years old and their kidney conditions had been affected by primary disorders such as high blood pressure and diabetes.

She said patients needed support because the dietary approach to chronic kidney disease often was quite different from what had been recommended for the primary conditions.

"In the study, the patients received individual counselling on nutrition and lifestyle through regular contact, either in a clinic or by telephone,'' Dr Campbell said.

She hoped an integration of dietetic services into the treatment of chronic kidney patients would follow as her findings were published in international medical and nutrition journals.

With chronic kidney disease on the rise, people managing health budgets could be expected to factor in the benefits.

Kidney Health Australia figures show kidney failure is the seventh most frequent cause of death in Australia and exceeds road deaths, suicide, and breast cancer in number. More than 40 people die each day from kidney failure in Australia.

While kidney disease has doubled over the last two decades, death rates from almost all other chronic conditions are falling substantially.

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The findings of this study suggest that fatty liver disease which is on the rise in Americans as a result of the obesity epidemic may be preventable and possibly treatable through dietary changes.

Ludwig and his team are now planning another trial to determine if changing the diet can reverse fatty liver in overweight children using the conventional treatment for the condition ...... a low-fat diet.

Dr. Ludwig says fatty liver is a silent but dangerous epidemic, and is as likely to explode into our consciousness as type 2 diabetes did in the 1990s.

Dr. Ludwig is the director of the Optimal Weight for Life program at Children's Hospital in Boston.

The study was funded by the National Institutes of Diabetes and Digestive Kidney Diseases and the Charles H. Hood Foundation.

The research is published in the current issue of the journal Obesity.