Fwd: [MC_USA] Selenium Anticancer Antioxditant ( and 1000 other functions )

[Guest guest]

Wayne Fugitt

Sun, 11 Apr 2004 06:55:06 -0500

[MC_USA] Selenium Anticancer Antioxditant ( and 1000 other functions )

 

 

Selenium Anticancer Antioxditant

 

The mineral selenium is one of our most important antioxidant nutrients, and few

of us are getting enough of it! This is the opinion shared by many nutritional

experts. Concern that many of us are not getting adequate amounts of this vital

nutrient (due to soil depletion and food production processes), is being echoed

worldwide. We know that modern eating habits promote nutrient deficiencies too,

so it's fairly reasonable to assume that most of us would benefit from adding

selenium to our daily supplement intake. Finland, New Zealand, and parts of

Australia and the United States are known to have low selenium levels.

 

The late author and complimentary physician Robert C Atkins, MD, stated there is

good evidence that selenium-deficient soils lead to premature aging, and in his

best selling book " Vita-nutrient Solution… Natures Answer to Drugs. " Atkins

shows a compelling case for selenium - rating it as one of our most potent

protector nutrients in the battle against free radical cell damage. He also has

this to say about selenium:

 

" A substance that can cut cancer occurrences by almost 40% and decrease the

cancer death rate by 50% should be heralded as our greatest medical

breakthrough, and dispensed to every person in the world. As 1996 came to a

close, we learned that selenium supplementation, had in fact achieved these

earth shattering results "

 

Dr. Atkins was referring to research findings from a study on cancer and

selenium, published in the prestigious Journal of the American Medical

Association, Dec, 25th 1996, 276(24)

 

Other research has found that without the protection that optimum amounts of

selenium provides, our defenses are severely compromised, leaving us open to

conditions such as heart disease, hardening of the arteries, rheumatoid

arthritis, and other oxidation-related afflictions. Also, our immune defenses

are left vulnerable to invading pathogens such as bacteria, viruses, and other

microbes. Some studies suggest taking supplemental selenium as a precautionary

measure, may prevent the herpes and hepatitis viruses from getting a hold - it

may even offer protection from the deadly Ebola virus!

 

Low selenium may be an important factor for smokers too - a study published

Nov.1998 in the American Journal of Epidemiology, vol. 148, pp. 975-82, clearly

showed low intake of selenium (especially when combined with low vitamin E

intake), increased risk factors for lung cancer.

 

Other studies show that when the practice of fluoridating drinking water is

combined with low selenium in the soil, there are higher incidences of skeletal

fluorosis, bone fractures and osteoporosis, in the elderly and others at risk.

Thus the authors conclude selenium tends to protect the skeleton from the

harmful effects of fluoride - Fluoride, Vol 29, 2 May 1996, p62

 

Humans require adequate amounts of selenium to stay healthy. Doses of up to

400mcg a day of selenium have been found to be safe, and it is highly probable

that supplementing with 200mcg a day will help us stay well. Despite all the

'wonders' of so called " modern medicine " statistics tell us we are not winning

the war when it comes to the chronic health conditions so prevalent in western

society. Many experts share the view that mineral depletion (amongst other

things) plays a large part in the increasing rates of debilitating chronic

illness.

 

Over farming and inorganic fertilizers are responsible for worldwide soil

mineral depletion, and this means that many of us are not getting anywhere near

the amounts of selenium (amongst other nutrients) required for good health. In

New Zealand and parts of Australia and the United States, soils are so low in

selenium that many of us are at risk of serious selenium deficiency, with the

associated health problems. Therefore supplementing with selenium is vital if we

are maintain or elevate our health, let alone stave off killer conditions like

cancer and heart disease as we age - statistics show these conditions steadily

increasing worldwide.

 

Several years ago the results of a large double-blind, placebo-controlled

clinical study of selenium supplementation was published in the Journal of the

American Medical Association. The multi-year study showed that people given 200

micrograms of supplemental selenium daily had only half the death rate from

cancer as people who were given a placebo instead of selenium. No harmful side

effects were observed.

 

Has your doctor told you about this study or recommended that you take

supplemental selenium to reduce your risk of cancer? We doubt it. He or she may

well be unaware of this study; or, if aware, has dismissed it because it

involved a simple, readily-available nutrient rather than a new wonder drug.

But, if any pharmaceutical drug were available which cut the cancer death rate

in half with no harmful side effects -- and none currently is -- you would see

ads for it plastered on TV and magazines and your doctor would readily prescribe

it for you.

 

If you want to reduce your risk of cancer with selenium you're probably not

going to get the information you need from your doctor. Perhaps your doctor or a

friend may tell you that selenium is toxic. It is in large doses, but it is

quite safe in the 200 microgram dosage used in the JAMA study which, as noted

above, found no harmful side effects. Cancer is a disease that we all dread, but

now you have the power to significantly reduce your risk.

 

Selenium is a potent antioxidant, which binds with unstable molecules in our

cells, preventing them researchers believe, from damaging cells and thus

potentially causing cancer.

 

Selenium may help protect some women from developing breast cancer, research has

suggested. The element helps the body defend itself. Scientists from the

University of Illinois believe they may have worked out how selenium interacts

with a natural body chemical to offer protection.

 

Studies have suggested that it can reduce the likelihood of other types of

cancer, and some have linked it to a lowered chance of heart disease.

 

The latest study looked at tissue samples from more than 500 women who did not

have breast cancer, and compared their genetic makeup with those in 79 breast

cancer tissue samples. The scientists were looking for genes which are

responsible for the production of an enzyme which the team believe has

cancer-fighting properties. They found that different versions of these genes

were more common in the breast cancer tissue samples.

 

Genetic fingerprint

 

Their conclusion was that certain women - with a certain genetic makeup - might

benefit from extra selenium in their diet to make sure their " cancer-fighting "

enzyme worked properly. Professor Alan Diamond said: " For over 20 years, animal

studies have shown that tiny amounts of selenium in the diet can suppress cancer

in several types of organs. The animal data is very strong, but human data is

just emerging. We believe there are certain proteins in mammalian cells that

contain selenium that can mediate the protective effects, but proving that is

difficult.

 

Studies show that a sufficient selenium intake may lower the risk of prostate,

breast, colorectal and lung cancers. Now a recent study from Indiana University

Cancer Center and Indiana University School of Medicine has explored the theory

that selenium activates an important tumor-suppressing gene called p53.

Scientists estimate that the p53 gene is mutated in as much as 70% of all

cancers. In experiments performed on human lung cancer cells, the Indiana

researchers used selenomethionine, the major component of selenium, to treat

cells that contained p53 genes, and other cells that were deficient in p53.

Results showed conclusively that selenomethionine not only activated the p53

protein, but also protected cells containing p53. Based on these findings, the

researchers speculate that selenium therapy may act as a cancer preventive by

enhancing the vitality of p53 genes. When the p53 genes function properly, cells

are more likely to repair the DNA damage that may promote cancer.

 

In addition to its excellent cancer fighting abilities, many studies also show

that selenium's antioxidant properties may also fight autoimmune disorders and

help increase insulin efficiency. Other research has concluded that selenium may

be able to stop viruses from mutating and becoming more potent. Clearly, the

importance of selenium in our diets can't be overstated.

 

Plant foods are the major dietary sources of selenium, but the amount of

selenium in any plant depends on the selenium content of the soil it's grown in.

So while garlic tends to contain good amounts of this mineral, the amounts vary

depending on the soil the garlic is grown in. Dr. Martin L. Smith, the author of

the Indiana study, noted that the average diet probably falls short of 50 mcg

per day. Furthermore, Dr. Smith believes that in order to reap the cancer

preventive qualities of selenium, intake needs to be around 200 mcg per day.

 

Men with the lowest levels of selenium have a higher risk of developing prostate

cancer than those with more significant amounts of the mineral. Larry C. Clark,

MPH, PhD, of the University of Arizona, and James Brooks, MD, of Stanford

University both reported on the use of selenium as a cancer deterrent.

 

Dr. Brooks, assistant professor of urology and associate chief of urologic

oncology at Stanford, investigated pre-diagnostic serum selenium levels to

determine if they correlated with the risk of cancer development. He and

colleagues concluded that serum selenium levels decreased with age, and that the

observed risk of prostate cancer was lower in men with serum selenium levels

above the lowest quartile.

 

" This was a study by colleagues from Stanford, Johns Hopkins University, and the

National Institute of Aging of a group of men in the Baltimore Longitudinal

Study of Aging who have been followed with serial rectal examinations and serum

PSA determinations on archived serum samples since the inception of the study in

the late 1950s. " Fifty-two patients developed prostate cancer. Because blood

samples from several years before diagnosis were available, he said,

investigators were able to measure the selenium levels in patients' blood an

average of 3 to 4 years prior to diagnosis.

 

" We compared that data with a group of age-matched controls who we know did not

develop prostate cancer, and who we know continue to have no signs of prostate

cancer because they've been screened effectively with PSA and DREs, " he said.

 

The comparison suggested that men with the lowest values of selenium are at a

two-fold higher risk for developing prostate cancer.

" So having a low serum selenium level confers a higher risk of getting prostate

cancer, " said Dr. Brooks.

 

Dr. Brooks noted results similar to those of Dr. Clark in his initial study with

skin cancer patients. Ultimately, they concluded that plasma levels of 1,25-D

and melatonin did not explain prostate cancer incidence, but that selenium may

partly protect against prostate carcinogenesis by raising plasma levels of 25-

D.

 

" What this suggests is that there's an association, possibly biologic, between

selenium and 25-D levels, with selenium raising 25-D levels, " said Dr. Clark.

" In our previous study, we observed a 67% reduction in prostate cancer incidence

with a 200 mcg supplement of selenium. This involved a 10-year time period.

 

Selenium is also essential for healthy immune functioning. As a result, selenium

supplementation has reduced the incidence of hepatitis in deficient populations.

Even in a non-deficient population of elderly people, selenium supplementation

has been found to stimulate the activity of white blood cells —primary

components of the immune system. Selenium is also needed to activate thyroid

hormones.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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