{"id":170,"date":"2016-11-30T22:56:32","date_gmt":"2016-11-30T22:56:32","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/seleniumfacts.com\/?p=170"},"modified":"2017-01-16T13:34:39","modified_gmt":"2017-01-16T13:34:39","slug":"we-know-that-selenium-is-important","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/seleniumfacts.com\/index.php\/we-know-that-selenium-is-important","title":{"rendered":"How we know that selenium supplementation is important"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Selen
Adequate intakes of selenium are needed to ensure the optimal functioning of the selenoproteins in the body. Selenoproteins provide protection against the development of cancer and heart disease; they are important for immune system defense; they protect against damage caused by heavy metals and chemical toxins and radiation. And, there is evidence that some of the selenoproteins have anti-viral properties.<\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Selenium?\u00a0 A trace element?\u00a0 You might well ask: How do we know that adequate amounts of dietary and supplemental selenium are important to us?
\nThe first answer is: because we can see that selenium deficiency makes people sick.
\nA further answer is that we now know that selenium is an essential component of antioxidant enzymes.
\nAnd, on the basis of the results of randomized controlled trials, we know that selenium supplementation reduces the risk of cancer, reduces the risk of heart disease, and improves immune function.
\nSelenium is also very useful for reducing the toxic effects of heavy metals in the body.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Reason number one: Selenium-deficiency diseases<\/strong>
\n Keshan disease<\/strong>
\nIn the 1960\u2019s and 1970\u2019s, thousands of people living in a region of China with selenium-poor soil, and, consequently, with selenium-poor food, died from the effects of a form of heart disease.\u00a0 The disease, which took its name from Keshan county in the afflicted region of China, is characterized by inflammation and enlargement of the heart muscle and excess fluid in the lungs. The primary cause of the disease was selenium deficiency.<\/p>\n

Medical examination of patients with Keshan disease has shown that there may also be a viral infection at play and that the viral infection may be exacerbated by the selenium deficiency, thereby making the effects of the selenium deficiency on the heart even worse.<\/p>\n

According to the Merck Manual of Diagnosis and Therapy<\/em>, the prescribed treatment for Keshan disease is selenium supplementation.\u00a0 The prevention of the development of Keshan disease depends upon enrichment of selenium-poor soils with selenium and upon the use of selenium supplements.<\/p>\n

Kashin-Beck disease<\/strong>
\nKashin-Beck is another disease that affects people living in selenium-poor regions of the world: large parts of China, Korea, Siberia, and Tibet in particular.\u00a0 The disease is characterized by the development at a young age of forms of osteoarthritis and, in the most severe cases, by the development of joint deformities.<\/p>\n

Studies that have been carried out in the affected regions give hope that selenium supplementation can reduce the risk of Kashin-Beck disease and that long-term selenium supplementation can lead to the repair of damage to bone tissue.<\/p>\n

Reason number two: selenium-dependent antioxidant enzymes<\/strong>
\nSometime after bio-medical researchers became aware of the dangers of selenium deficiency, they began to learn more and more about the role of selenium in the activity of antioxidant enzymes.\u00a0 The researchers discovered that selenium is a necessary component of the following antioxidant enzymes (antioxidants are necessary to neutralize the harmful free radicals that cause oxidative damage to cell structures, proteins, lipids, and DNA):<\/p>\n