October 2018 - Seleniumfacts.com

A recent study has found a relatively high mortality risk in elderly Swedish subjects with low selenium status. Supplementation with a high-selenium yeast supplement and a Coenzyme Q10 supplement for four years resulted in significantly reduced risk of death from heart disease, better maintained heart function, and better quality of life for senior citizens. The beneficial effect of the supplementation has persisted through the 12th year of follow-up.

Low plasma/serum selenium concentrations are associated with increased risk of death from heart disease and increased risk of death from all causes. Professor Urban Alehagen and a team of researchers at Linköping University in Sweden have investigated the relationship between low selenium levels and the risk of heart disease.

Selenium supplements suggested for adults with very low Se levels

The Swedish study shows that adults with a serum selenium concentration below 57 micrograms per liter are at significantly higher risk of death from all causes (43% increased risk) and death from heart disease (56% increased risk) [Alehagen 2016].
57 micrograms of selenium per liter of serum. Wow! That’s low.

These significant associations remained solid even after the researchers had adjusted for the effects of possibly modifying factors: read more

Milestones in early selenium research

1817 Swedish chemist Jöns Jakob Berzelius discovers selenium

1957 Biochemist Klaus Schwarz shows that selenium in microscopic amounts has a vital importance for mammalian health

1969 Professor J.T. Rotruck discovers that selenium has a biochemical role as a component of the antioxidant enzyme glutathione peroxidase

1969 Professors R.J. Shamberger and D.V. Frost report a possible protective effect of selenium against cancer in humans

1973 Professor J.T. Rotruck identifies the enzyme glutathione peroxidase as a selenium-dependent protein

1977 Professor G.N. Schrauzer publishes cancer mortality correlation studies showing an inverse correlation between dietary intakes of selenium and cancer mortality in 27 countries

1988 Professor G.Q Yang summarizes the lessons learned about the selenium-related endemic diseases Keshan disease and Kashin-Beck disease and about the importance of adequate daily selenium intakes

1989 Professor G.G. Duthie publishes evidence for a role of selenium in the prevention of cardiovascular disease

1993 Researcher W.J. Blot publishes the results of the Nutrition Intervention Trials in Linxian, China, showing that supplementation with a combination of selenium and other antioxidants reduces the risk of cancer

1994 Professor G.N. Schrauzer publishes evidence that selenium is important in the maintenance and therapy of HIV-infected patients

1996 Professor Larry Clark publishes the results of a randomized controlled trial – the Nutritional Prevention of Cancer study -- that shows selenium's cancer-protective effects on colon cancer, lung cancer, and prostate cancer

1997 Professor G.F. Combs summarizes the evidence for the protective effects of selenium against cancer

1999 Professor J.E. Oldfield publishes his Selenium World Atlas, mapping areas of selenium deficiency around the world

2000 Researcher O.A. Levander publishes evidence showing an anti-viral effect of selenium

2002 Researcher R. Gärtner shows that supplementation with selenium reduces inflammation in patients with autoimmune thyroiditis

2002 Researcher Margaret Rayman presents the arguments for increasing selenium intakes to realize selenium’s antioxidant and anti-viral and anti-inflammatory effects as well as selenium’s enhancement of immune function and reproductive success.

Month: October 2018

Low serum selenium levels and increased cardiovascular mortality

Selenium supplements suggested for adults with very low Se levels