Germany Archives - Seleniumfacts.com

Higher all-cause mortality and higher mortality due to cancer, cardiovascular disease, gastrointestinal diseases, and respiratory disorders are associated with lower serum selenoprotein P concentrations in older German adults [Schöttker 2024].

Operation table — Death from all causes and death specifically caused by cancer, cardiovascular disease, gastrointestinal diseases, and respiratory disorders are strongly associated with low serum concentrations of the selenium-dependent selenoprotein P.

In plain English, lower blood concentrations of the selenium-dependent selenoprotein P are significantly associated with a higher risk of degenerative disease progression and with dying. Moreover, the data from the German study show that the risk of dying associated with low blood Selenoprotein P levels was more than double in men compared to women [Schöttker 2024].

In the Esther Study, German researchers assessed the association of measurements of serum Selenoprotein P concentrations with all-cause and cause-specific mortality data. They measured serum Selenoprotein P at baseline and again at a 5-year follow-up in 7,186 and 4,164 participants, respectively [Schöttker 2024]. read more

Vegetarians and vegans, do they get enough selenium in their diets? It is an important question because the number of vegetarians around the world is growing for ethical and environmental reasons. How do we measure selenium status in various groups of people?

Vineyard in Germany with selenium-poor soil — **The arable land in much of Europe contains a sub-optimal content of selenium, meaning that the plants grown there are also poor in selenium. Pictured: A vineyard in Germany.**

Selenium is an essential trace element. Essential means that we have to get it from our food or from supplements. The human body does not synthesize selenium. What the body does synthesize is the selenoproteins, of which selenium in the amino acid selenocysteine is a key active component.

Particularly in much of Europe and the Middle East, the soil and the plants have relatively poor selenium content. In many countries, the farm animals are supplemented with selenium to improve their nutritional intakes and their health and to avoid selenium deficiency syndromes. 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.

Tag: Germany

Selenium and Selenoprotein P and Mortality

Selenium Supplementation for Vegetarians and Vegans