{"id":784,"date":"2017-11-03T07:28:50","date_gmt":"2017-11-03T07:28:50","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/seleniumfacts.com\/?p=784"},"modified":"2018-02-02T14:42:00","modified_gmt":"2018-02-02T14:42:00","slug":"selenium-alzheimers-disease-cognitive-decline","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/seleniumfacts.com\/index.php\/selenium-alzheimers-disease-cognitive-decline","title":{"rendered":"Selenium and Alzheimer’s disease and cognitive decline"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Pictured: A healthy brain and a brain suffering from severe Alzheimer’s disease. The question: what is the role of the selenium-dependent antioxidant seleno-enzymes in the prevention of Alzheimer’s disease?<\/a> Professors Aaseth and Alehagen offer an explanation.
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There is no reliable method to prevent the development and progression of Alzheimer\u2019s.\u00a0 There is no known cure for Alzheimer\u2019s.\u00a0 The approaches that we have tried over the past 20-25 years have not prevented or inhibited the decline in cognitive function that is associated with Alzheimer\u2019s.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Now, Professor Jan Aaseth (Norway) and Professor Urban Alehagen (Sweden) propose selenium supplementation as a prophylactic measure to inhibit the decline of cognitive function, especially in the selenium-poor regions of the world.\u00a0 They hypothesize that the optimal functioning of the selenoproteins SEPP, GPx, and TrxR is necessary to protect against the cognitive decline associated with Alzheimer\u2019s disease.<\/strong><\/p>\n

There is a considerable amount of research in human studies that forms the basis for their recommendation.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Selenium and brain function<\/strong>
\nAdequate supply of selenium <\/a>is crucial to cerebral functions.\u00a0 In cases of low selenium status, the brain selenium is maintained at the expense of selenium to other cells and tissues in the body.<\/p>\n

The selenoprotein SEPP \u2013 the circulating selenium transporter \u2013 is the most important extracellular selenoprotein.\u00a0 It is the selenoprotein that delivers selenium to the brain and the neurons.<\/p>\n

The selenoproteins GPx1 and GPx4 (glutathione peroxidases) and TrxR (thioredoxin reductases) are important intracellular antioxidants in the brain and the neurons.<\/p>\n

Observational studies of selenium status and cognitive decline<\/strong>
\nDrs. Aaseth and Alehagen has amassed quite a bit of data from human studies that show an association between low selenium intakes and\/or low selenium status and various aspects of cognitive decline.<\/p>\n

Please remember, in reading about the studies summarized below, that researchers at the University of East Anglia, in the United Kingdom, have estimated that the most likely range for optimal functioning of selenoproteins is between 120 and 150 micrograms of selenium per liter of plasma<\/a> [Hurst 2010].<\/p>\n