Selenium plays an important role in optimal immune and endocrine system function. The role that selenium plays with respect to thyroid function is complex [Chmura 2022]:
The thyroid gland is the organ with the greatest amount of selenium per gram of tissue.
A 2022 review highlights the following relationships between selenium deficiency and thyroid gland dysfunction [Chmura 2022]:
Aging. Getting up in years. Striving to live as long as possible and to be as strong and healthy as possible. At some point, good health becomes a more important concern than wealth. Optimal selenium status is important to good health [Alehagen 2021].
In a review article, Professor Urban Alehagen and Professor Jan Aaseth list the following conditions associated with biological aging [Alehagen 2021]:
Getting old is inevitable. Biological aging necessarily involves a weakening of the immune system and increased susceptibility to diseases and environmental stresses.
Selenium deficiency is associated with mitochondrial dysfunction, oxidative stress, and inflammation [Alehagen 2021].
Mitochondrial injuries are an important factor in the aging of human cells. A by-product of the mitochondrial generation of ATP energy in the cells is the production of reactive oxygen species, some of which are useful and some of which are harmful. The leakage of these harmful free radicals from the mitochondrial respiratory chain increases with age, which results in cellular oxidative damage, whenever there are not enough antioxidants to neutralize the effects of the free radicals.
