Immune System Archives - Page 2 of 2

November 26, 2016December 22, 2016

Dr. Gerhard N. Schrauzer – renowned selenium researcher

Dr. Gerhard N. Schrauzer was the grand old man of selenium science. Actually, he was the grand old man of trace element research in the United States for 30 years or more. He was one of the pioneers and one of the major figures in selenium research. Let’s take a look at the useful contributions of information to the selenium supplementation knowledge base that Dr. Schrauzer made.

First, who was Dr. Schrauzer in the context of selenium research?
Dr. Schrauzer did his graduate study in chemistry at the University in Munich, Germany. He was awarded his Ph.D. summa cum laude. From 1966 to 1994, he was a chemistry and biochemistry professor at the University of California in San Diego (UCSD). After his retirement, he was a professor emeritus at UCSD. read more

November 18, 2016January 16, 2017

The functions of selenium supplements

skin-cells antioxidant — Selenium is an important component of the antioxidant defense in the cells. It helps to protect against oxidative damage to both cells and DNA. It has been shown to have a protective effect against the damage to skin cells caused by ultraviolet radiation.

Why the interest in selenium facts? Here, at the beginning of the seleniumfacts.com website, we want to review in broad terms what we know about the functions of selenium supplementation. We are especially interested in selenium’s antioxidant and anti-inflammatory effects in the human body.

Selenium is an essential trace element in the human diet, and, in many regions of the world, it is an absolutely necessary nutritional supplement. It has many and diverse functions in the human body.

One of the interesting things about selenium is that it does not perform its functions as an element or an ion. Instead, it functions as a component of more complex compounds. In particular, it is an essential component of the 21st amino acid, selenocysteine. read more

November 7, 2016December 22, 2016

Professor Jørgen Clausen: early selenium researcher

professor J. Clausen — **Professor Jørgen Clausen was one of the first researchers to realize the importance of supplementation with selenium in regions of the world with selenium-poor soil.**

Professor Jørgen Clausen, long-time professor in the Institute for Life Sciences and Chemistry, Roskilde University Center, in Roskilde, Denmark, was one of the early researchers to do clinical studies of the effects of supplementation with selenium. As such, it seems instructive to go back and look at the research done by Dr. Clausen and his colleagues at the end of the 20th century.

Professor Clausen’s selenium studies
Basically, Professor Clausen’s research can be described in five different categories:

Effect of selenium supplementation on the health of the elderly nursing home residents
Effect of selenium supplementation on the health of cigarette smokers
Effect of selenium supplementation on the health of patients with chronic neurologic disorders
Effect of selenium supplementation on the toxic effects of lead poisoning
Effect of selenium supplementation on the activity levels of the selenium-dependent antioxidant enzyme glutathione peroxidase

In addition, Professor Clausen was an early leader in the investigation of the absorption and health effects of various forms of inorganic and organic selenium supplements.

Selenium supplementation and smokers and oxidative stress
To understand Dr. Clausen’s interest in the effect of selenium supplementation on smokers, we must first understand the concept of oxidative stress and the related concept of oxidative damage. Oxidative stress occurs when, in the process of metabolism of oxygen, the body produces, as a by-product, various reactive oxygen species (for example: peroxide, superoxide, hydroxyl, and singlet oxygen radicals) to excess. read more

October 31, 2016December 22, 2016

Selenium Compounds Fight Cancer

diabetes-picture, cancer — **The body’s selenium level can be measured by using a blood sample**

In a new scientific study, Danish researchers from Copenhagen University have demonstrated that methylated selenium compounds can regulate the body’s immune system enabling it to better fight certain cancers. These selenium compounds are found in certain foods such as garlic and broccoli but also in the selenium preparations containing selenium yeast.

Certain cancers such as skin cancer, prostate cancer, and some forms of leukemia weaken the body’s immune system by overstimulating it until it eventually breaks down, giving cancer cells a free rein in the body. What this new Danish research shows is that the intake of selenium compounds that can be metabolized into methylselenol improves the immune system’s ability to fight cancer. 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.