Selenium Fights Cancer & Heart Disease

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Selenium Fights Cancer & Heart Disease

http://www.willner.com/article.aspx?artid=133

by Frederic J. Vagnini, MD

 

People with diets low in this trace mineral have a two to three

times greater risk of heart disease that those with diets rich in it.

 

Individuals with diets low in selenium have a two to three times

greater risk of heart disease than those with diets rich in

selenium. This trace mineral is important for heart patients because

it performs a number of functions: 1) it acts as an antioxidant,

preventing free radical and oxidative damage; 2) it improves the

lipid profile, increasing the ratio of the good HDL cholesterol to

LDL cholesterol; and 3) it inhibits platelet aggregation (dotting).

In one clinical study, patients with blockages of three coronary

arteries had low blood selenium levels; those free of blockage had

high selenium levels.

 

But beneficial as selenium is to heart patients, it is as a cancer

fighter that selenium appears to do a most remarkable job.

 

Researchers undertook an investigation of the reported link between

selenium and skin cancer. They failed to discover a strong

association, but in the course of their work they were astonished to

find that patients given selenium had radically reduced rates of

several other types of cancer.

 

Inpatients taking 200 micrograms of selenium daily, the risk of

prostate cancer plummeted by 64 percent, colon and rectal cancer

dropped by 58 percent, and the lung cancer decreased by 45 percent.

 

The overall mortality rate from cancer among patients taking

selenium supplements was 50 percent lower than among people not

taking them. Clinical trials are now underway to determine if these

findings can be duplicated.

 

Some investigations have demonstrated that selenium can dramatically

improve arthritis. Prostaglandins produce the inflammation of

arthritis, and selenium helps to control prostaglandins by

controlling the free radical damage that causes their production.

 

Low levels of selenium also have been associated with cataracts,

eczema, premature aging, arthritis, and psoriasis. Depressed immune

function and impaired resistance to infection have also been

attributed to low levels of selenium. Although chronic low levels of

this trace mineral are common, a true deficiency is rare and usually

occurs in parts of the world where the levels in the soil are low.

Then, a severe heart disorder called Keshan disease can occur.

 

The amount of selenium in the soil affects the amount of it in the

food we eat. The effective forms of the supplement are organic, and

include selenium-rich yeast and seleno-methionine The National

Academy of Sciences has established a safe and effective range for

selenium of 50 to 200 micrograms daily.

 

[an excerpt from " Cardiovascular Wellness, " The Newsletter of Dr.

Frederic J. Vagnini, Vol V, No. 11]

 

Dr. Vagnini is a Board Certified Cardiac/Thoracic Surgeon, who after

25 years of conventional medical practice, expanded his area of

expertise to include Preventive Medicine and Clinical Nutrition.

 

He hosts a popular radio program, the Heart Show, airing from 4-5

pm, Sunday, on WOR Radio. He has also developed a cutting-edge line

of nutritional supplements under the Nutrition and Wellness brand,

now available at Willner Chemists.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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