There’s a new secret weapon for dialysis patients

An international clinical trial has found that a simple daily fish oil supplement can dramatically cut the likelihood of life-threatening cardiovascular events, including heart attack, stroke, cardiac death and vascular-related amputations, in people receiving dialysis for kidney failure.

In a major advance for one of the highest-risk patient groups in medicine, the findings emerged from a PISCES trial co-led in Australia by Monash Health and the School of Clinical Sciences at Monash University which followed 1,228 participants across 26 dialysis sites in Australia and Canada.

Results presented at the American Society of Nephrology Kidney Week 2025 and published in The New England Journal of Medicine showed that patients who received four grams of fish oil per day containing EPA and DHA experienced a 43% lower rate of serious cardiovascular events than those given a placebo.

Adjunct Professor Kevan Polkinghorne, nephrologist at Monash Health and adjunct in the School of Clinical Sciences, served as the lead investigator for the Australian arm.

“Patients on dialysis have extremely high cardiovascular risk, and very few therapies have been shown to reduce that risk,” Professor Polkinghorne said.

“In a field where many trials have been negative, this is a significant finding.

“Dialysis patients typically have much lower levels of EPA and DHA than the general population. This may help explain the magnitude of benefit observed in this group.”

Polkinghorne emphasised that the findings are specific to people receiving haemodialysis for kidney failure and “should not be applied to healthy individuals or other patient groups.”

The Australian component of the trial was supported by the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC), with trial coordination provided by the Australasian Kidney Trials Network (AKTN). Around 200 Australian patients took part, including 44 treated at Monash Health.

International leadership for PISCES was provided by Professor Charmaine Lok and colleagues at the University Health Network in Toronto and the University of Calgary.

IMPORTANT LEGAL INFO This article is of a general nature and FYI only, because it doesn’t take into account your personal health requirements or existing medical conditions. That means it’s not personalised health advice and shouldn’t be relied upon as if it is. Before making a health-related decision, you should work out if the info is appropriate for your situation and get professional medical advice.