Selenium and Toxic Metals and the Ageing Kidney

In individuals older than 50-60 years, the kidneys’ glomerular filtration rate decreases with increasing age. The glomerular filtration rate is a measure of how well your kidneys are working. In your kidneys, there are tiny filters (called glomeruli) that remove waste and excess fluid from the blood.

Jan Aaseth
Jan Aaseth is a Norwegian physician and professor who has done extensive research in endocrinology, toxicology, and medical biochemistry. Here we summarize his review of the relationship between selenium status, heavy metal toxicity, and the kidneys.

Exposure to toxic metals – mercury, cadmium, lead – can be detrimental to kidneys of normal adults. Accordingly, exposure to toxic metals can affect individuals with reduced glomerular filtration rates even more adversely.

Professor Jan Aaseth and a team of researchers have reviewed the available research data. Their findings show the following relationships [Aaseth 2021]:

Elderly Individuals More Susceptible to Toxic Metal Exposure

Healthy elderly individuals are capable, for the most part, of maintaining normal kidney function. However, especially after the age of 70 years, physiological changes occur in the kidneys. read more