Fish oil supplements are healthy for overall health and especially beneficial for heart and cardiovascular functions.
Scientists are conducting a new international trial, which produced excellent results for people on kidney dialysis, showing that daily fish oil supplements can sharply reduce serious heart problems.
The latest findings from the study indicate that patients taking fish oil had far fewer heart attacks, strokes and cardiac deaths than those in control.
Researchers said this is especially important because dialysis patients face extreme cardiovascular risk and few proven treatment options.
The latest findings mark a rare breakthrough in kidney care.
A simple daily fish oil supplement can dramatically reduce fatal heart complications in dialysis patients, offering new hope where few treatments have worked.
The research was co-led in Australia by Monash Health and the School of Clinical Sciences at Monash University.
The study, known as the PISCES study, followed 1,228 participants undergoing dialysis at 26 sites in Australia and Canada.
The findings were revealed at the American Society of Nephrology Kidney Week 2025 and released at the same time The New England Journal of Medicine.
Researchers found that participants who took four grams of fish oil every day showed notable improvements.
The supplement contained the natural omega-3 fatty acids EPA and DHA. Compared to those who received a placebo, these patients experienced a 43 percent reduction in major cardiovascular events.
The outcomes measured included heart attacks, strokes, heart-related deaths and vascular amputations.
Adjunct Professor Kevan Polkinghorne, a nephrologist at Monash Health and adjunct in the School of Clinical Sciences, led the Australian part of the trial.
“Patients on dialysis are at extremely high cardiovascular risk, and very few therapies have been shown to reduce that risk,” said Professor Polkinghorne, adding: “In a field where many studies have been negative, this is an important finding.”
“Dialysis patients tend to have much lower levels of EPA and DHA than the general population. This may help explain the magnitude of the benefit observed in this group,” researchers said.
Professor Polkinghorne emphasized that the results are specific to people on hemodialysis for kidney failure, as the researchers only tried it in dialysis patients.
He cautioned that the findings should not be extended to healthy individuals or other patient populations.
The Australian arm of the trial was funded by the National Health and Medical Research Council NHMRC.
Overall coordination of the trials was managed by the Australasian Kidney Trials Network AKTN.
About 200 Australian patients took part in the study, including 44 treated at Monash Health.
The international leadership of the PISCES study came from Professor Charmaine Lok and her colleagues at the University Health Network in Toronto and the University of Calgary.
The fish oil contains omega-3 fatty acids and other rich nutrients, which also promote healthy hair and improve brain functions.
It is also considered a healthy supplement for skin and bone health.
