While some patients approach end-stage kidney disease with few symptoms, others are plagued with itching, nausea, fatigue, hypertension, high cholesterol, high potassium levels and flank pain. These patients are understandably desperate for anything that provides relief from symptoms that just seem to get worse. Strict adherence to your doctor's advice can ameliorate some of this distress. While fish oil doesn't provide symptomatic relief, it can play a small role in treating kidney disease.
Flank Pain
Flank pain is a common symptom of advanced renal disease. While most people never experience such pain, a dull ache in your sides or lower back, approximately where your kidneys are located, is a tell-tale indication that all is not well. Flank pain associated with chronic kidney disease should never be confused with other types of pain. If the pain is sharp or searing, call your doctor immediately because it may be associated with kidney stones or other acute conditions.
Fish Oil
Since 1999 when James Donadio's landmark paper on fish oil and IgA nephropathy appeared in the "Journal of the American Society of Nephrology," more and more nephrologists recommend that their patients take fish oil supplements. While Donadio's research has never been replicated, it provides a small window of hope because it suggests that regular supplementation with fish oil might retard the progression of chronic kidney disease.
Limitations
Despite Donadio's report, there is no evidence that supports the assertion that fish oil relieves flank pain caused by chronic kidney disease. As of March 2011, not a single report in PubMed, the U.S. Library of Medicine on-line repository for all medical journal articles, speaks of an association between flank pain and fish oil.
Warning
Don't confuse fish oil with cod liver oil. Cod liver oil is made from the livers of cod fish. Fish oil is made from oil expressed from whole fish bodies. Unlike fish oil, cod liver oil is high in vitamin A. Patients with advanced kidney disease often have high levels of vitamin A because their kidneys don't effectively clear this vitamin from the blood. Taking high doses of cod liver oil could easily cause vitamin A toxicity.
References
- National Library of Medicine Bookshelf; Chapter 182 - Flank Pain; Anton J. Bueschen
- "Journal of the American Society of Nephrology;" The Long-Term Outcome of Patients with IgA Nephropathy Treated with Fish Oil in a Controlled Trial; James Donadio; August 1999
- DaVita:The ABCs of Vitamins for Kidney Patients
- Foundation for IgA Nephropathy; Symptoms of IgAN
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