ROCHESTER, MINN. -- A daily dose of fish oil slows the progression of disease in people suffering from IgA nephropathy, a relatively common kidney disease with potentially serious consequences. An earlier Mayo Clinic-led study showed that, after two years, people who took the fish oil had significantly better kidney function and significantly fewer of them suffered advanced kidney failure than people who took a placebo.

A recent report in the Journal of the American Society of Nephrology shows that those benefits continue over time. Researchers followed all 106 of the original study participants for an average of more than six years. They found that the fish oil group fared better than the placebo group in two key areas: worsening of kidney function (the ability to process wastes) and kidney failure.