Tag: Heart

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Selenium and Heart Disease

Heart disease. The evidence from clinical studies is increasing. Selenium deficiency is associated with an increased risk of heart trouble [Bomer 2020]. Selenium supplementation of elderly individuals who have low selenium status is associated with improved survival, improved heart function, and improved quality of life [Alehagen 2013].

Map of Europe
Selenium intakes and selenium status in countries in northern Europe are generally quite low. Consequently, clinical trials conducted in northern Europe tend to be more valuable than clinical trials conducted in the USA where dietary selenium intakes are considerably higher for the most part.

Especially in northern Europe, clinical studies show the relationship between the need for selenium and the risk of heart disease. This makes sense because the dietary selenium intake in northern Europe is considerably lower than the dietary selenium intake in much of the United States. Consequently, the mean plasma selenium concentrations in Europe tend to be well below 80–90 mcg/L. In the USA, on the other hand, the mean plasma selenium concentrations are generally above 120 mcg/L [Alehagen 2022]. read more

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Heart Failure Risk and Selenium Deficiency

Low plasma selenoprotein P levels are associated with a higher risk of heart failure in a Swedish population [Jujic 2023].

Heart rate
Selenium deficiency in heart failure patients is significantly associated with increased risk of cardiovascular mortality, impaired exercise capacity, and poorer quality of life [Bomer 2020].
Selenoprotein P is the primary protein transporter of selenium in the blood.

Plasma and serum selenoprotein P concentrations are useful biomarkers of selenium status in individuals with relatively low selenium intakes because selenoprotein P responds to different intake forms of selenium [Hurst 2010].

Selenium deficiency – defined as serum selenium concentrations below 70 mcg/L – has been associated with more severe symptoms of heart failure, poorer exercise capacity, and poorer quality of life. Sub-optimal serum selenium concentrations of 70–100 mcg/L have similar adverse associations, suggesting that values less than 100 mcg/L, might be considered abnormal [Bomer 2020]. read more

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Selenium and Coenzyme Q10 Supplementation To Prevent Heart Disease

Heart disease prevention. In the KiSel-10 Study, combined supplementation of community living senior citizens for four years with an organic high selenium yeast (200 mcg selenium/day) and Coenzyme Q10 in the ubiquinone form (2 x 100 mg/day) prevented an increase in fibroblast growth factor 23 and reduced the risk of cardiovascular disease [Alehagen Feb 2022].

what is fibroblast growth Factor 23?
Prof. Urban Alehagen
Prof. Urban Alehagen was among the first cardiologists to suspect that low selenium intakes might increase the risk of death from heart disease. He designed and conducted the KiSel-10 Study to test the hypothesis that combined selenium and Coenzyme Q10 supplementation might reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease.

Professor Urban Alehagen explains that fibroblast growth factor 23 is a hormone that is secreted primarily from the osteocytes (i.e., mature bone cells) into the blood. From the blood circulation, the hormone acts on fibroblast growth factor receptors in the heart, intestine, kidney, and parathyroid gland [Alehagen Feb 2022].

Fibroblast growth factor 23 is mainly active in the metabolism of vitamin D and phosphorus. However, there have been reports that indicate an association between increased fibroblast growth factor 23 levels and cardiovascular mortality even in the patients with no sign of kidney disease [Alehagen Feb 2022]. read more

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Selenium Deficiency and Heart Failure

Heart failure – the inability of the heart muscle to pump a sufficient quantity of blood out to the body – is a debilitating disease, resulting in shortness of breath, congestion in the lungs, and pooling of blood in the lower extremities. Heart failure is equivalent to diminished quality of life.

Mitochondrion
Depiction of a mitochondrion. The mitochondria in our cells convert energy sources such as fatty acids, glucose, and ketones into ATP energy molecules. Sufficient intakes of micronutrients such as selenium, Coenzyme Q10, and zinc are important for mitochondrial energy production and for antioxidant protection of cells, lipids, proteins, and DNA.

The prognosis for heart failure is poor, and the available medical therapies for patients with heart failure are inadequate. New treatment strategies are needed [Mortensen 2015].

Yin et al have analyzed the data from 39,757 adults in a cross-sectional study from the 2005–2018 US National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. Their findings suggest that high levels of combined dietary antioxidant micronutrients are associated with decreased prevalence of various forms of cardiovascular disease and that selenium has the greatest contribution to this association [Yin 2022]. read more

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Selenium and Coenzyme Q10 Combination

The Swedish cardiologist Dr. Urban Alehagen has written persuasively that there exists a special inter-relationship between selenium and Coenzyme Q10 in the prevention of cardiovascular diseases.

Professor Urban Alehagen
Professor Urban Alehagen lecturing about the therapeutic cardiovascular benefits of combined selenium and Coenzyme Q10 supplementation.

Briefly, Prof. Alehagen, together with the Norwegian professor Jan Aaseth, makes the point that low selenium intakes and status could restrict the cells’ ability to get optimal concentrations of Coenzyme Q10 and that the cells need adequate of Coenzyme Q10 to permit optimal function of selenium [Alehagen & Aaseth 2015a].

The clinical outcomes of the KiSel-10 intervention study in which community living Swedish citizens, average age 78 years, were administered selenium and Coenzyme Q10 daily for four years show that combined selenium and Coenzyme Q10 supplementation, compared to placebo treatment, can be beneficial in populations that have low selenium status: read more

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Selenium and Coenzyme Q10 and heart protection

Healthy aging is the goal of us all. We want to remain physically active and mentally alert as long as we can. A study of the supplementation of elderly Swedish citizens has shown that daily supplementation with high-selenium yeast tablets and Coenzyme Q10 capsules significantly reduced the rate of death from heart disease. Depicted here: symptoms of heart attack.

Leading cardiologists in Sweden conducted a four-year study — the KiSel-10 study — of 443 of the elderly Swedish citizens and found that a prophylactic treatment with 200 micrograms of high-selenium yeast and 200 milligrams of Coenzyme Q10 daily reduces the risk of dying from heart disease by over 50 per cent.  This is an immensely interesting study result because heart disease is the number one killer in Western countries.

The KiSel-10 Study

The KiSel-10 clinical trial — a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study–  investigated the effect of a combination of high-selenium yeast tablets and Coenzyme Q10 capsules, as compared with matching placebo capsules and tablets, on the following outcomes: read more

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Selenium and heart function in elderly males

Professor Urban Alehagen, Linköping University in Sweden: the changes in the expression of microRNAs — changes that are associated with serum selenium and Coenzyme Q10 concentrations — may be part of the mechanism by which selenium and Coenzyme Q10 contribute to improved heart health.

The randomized controlled clinical trial known as the KiSel-10 study documented that daily supplementation of healthy elderly adults (men and women aged 70 – 88 years) with 200 milligrams of Coenzyme Q10 and 200 micrograms of a high-selenium yeast preparation yields significant health benefits as compared with placebo supplementation:

  • reduced heart disease mortality
  • better heart function
  • fewer signs of chronic low-grade inflammation
  • fewer signs of oxidative stress (cell damage caused by harmful free radicals)

These research findings were/are encouraging for middle-aged adults and for senior citizens, no doubt about it.

The KiSel-10 study of selenium and Coenzyme Q10 treatment
Professor Alehagen and the team of bio-medical researchers in Linköping, Sweden, knew that selenium intakes and selenium status are low in Sweden generally.  They knew, moreover, that the human body’s bio-synthesis of Coenzyme Q10 declines with increasing age to the extent that, typically, an 80-year-old body produces about one half of the Coenzyme Q10 that a 25-year-old body produces. read more

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Selenium and heart disease

A study of serum selenium levels and supplementation with a patented organic selenium yeast preparation shows an association between serum selenium concentrations and the rate of deaths from heart disease in healthy elderly study participants.

There have been two noteworthy discoveries from a recent randomized controlled trial conducted by Dr. Urban Alehagen of Linköping University (Sweden) and his colleagues.

Firstly, people with low concentrations of selenium in their blood were found to be at significantly higher risk of death from heart disease.

Secondly, a combination of a patented high selenium yeast supplement and a proven Coenzyme Q10 supplement taken daily for four years provided significant protection against heart disease in people with low serum selenium status.

The KiSel-10 study of cardiovascular mortality
The study enrolled 668 healthy elderly individuals aged 70-80 years.  The study was well-designed and well-executed.  One group of 219 randomly selected individuals received 200 micrograms of selenized yeast tablets and 200 milligrams of Coenzyme Q10 capsules daily for four years. A second randomly assigned group of 222 individuals received matching placebos.  The remaining group of 227 individuals received no treatment at all. read more

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Selenium and heart muscle tissue

Daily nutritional supplementation with a combination of organic high-selenium yeast and Coenzyme Q10 for four years slowed the decline of heart function that is frequently associated with ageing.

The heart muscle tissue is frequently the first tissue in humans to suffer damage caused by selenium deficiency.  When the cell membranes in the heart muscle tissue are damaged by the action of harmful free radicals (this is called oxidative damage), many of the healthy heart muscle cells are replaced by fibrous tissue.  The resulting condition is called cardiomyopathy.

Cardiomyopathy is a disease of the heart muscle in which the heart is enlarged, thick, and rigid [Mayo Clinic].  As the cardiomyopathy worsens, the weakened heart muscle is less and less able to pump adequate quantities of blood to carry oxygen and nutrients to the cells and tissues throughout the body.  Eventually, symptoms such as shortness of breath, early fatigue, and swelling in the legs and feet and abdomen appear, the symptoms of chronic heart failure.
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