Check out Selenum toxicity in fruits and veggies. We've been eating them since we've been told they're good for us, and of course they are. But it's common to see high Selenium levels in women, and that's linked to breast cancer.
How'd the Selenium get into the soil, and then into our plants, veggies, fruits, and now into us? Fertilizer, of course.
Good words:
Oh crap, I take selenium supplements...........I heard this tho vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv
CancerSeveral studies have suggested a possible link between cancer and selenium deficiency.[SUP]
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[50][/SUP] One study, known as the NPC, was conducted to test the effect of selenium supplementation on the recurrence of skin cancers on selenium-deficient men. It did not demonstrate a reduced rate of recurrence of skin cancers, but did show a reduced occurrence of total cancers, particularly for lung, colorectal and prostate cancers (Relative Risk 0.63). There was also a significant reduction in total cancer mortality (−50 %), although without a statistically significant change in overall mortality.[SUP]
[51][/SUP] The preventative effect observed in the NPC was greatest in those with the lowest baseline selenium levels.[SUP]
[52][/SUP] In 2009, the 5.5 year SELECT study reported selenium and vitamin E supplementation, both alone and together, did not significantly reduce the incidence of
prostate cancer in 35,000 men who "generally were replete in selenium at baseline".[SUP]
[52][/SUP] The SELECT trial reported vitamin E did not reduce prostate cancer as it had in the alpha-tocopherol, beta carotene (ATBC) study, but the ATBC had a large percentage of smokers, while the SELECT trial did not.[SUP]
[52][/SUP] There was a slight trend toward more prostate cancer in the SELECT trial, but in the vitamin E only arm of the trial, where no selenium was given.
Dietary selenium prevents chemically induced carcinogenesis in many rodent studies.[SUP]
[53][/SUP] It has been proposed that selenium may help prevent cancer by acting as an
antioxidant or by enhancing immune activity. Not all studies agree on the cancer-fighting effects of selenium. One study of naturally occurring levels of selenium in over 60,000 participants did not show a significant correlation between those levels and cancer.[SUP]
[54][/SUP] The SU.VI.MAX study[SUP]
[55][/SUP] concluded low-dose supplementation (with 120 mg of ascorbic acid, 30 mg of vitamin E, 6 mg of beta carotene, 100 µg of selenium, and 20 mg of zinc) resulted in a 30% reduction in the incidence of cancer and a 37% reduction in all-cause mortality in males, but did not get a significant result for females.[SUP]
[56][/SUP] A Cochrane review of studies concluded that there is no convincing evidence that individuals, particularly those who are adequately nourished, will benefit from selenium supplementation with regard to their cancer risk.[SUP]
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[58][/SUP] However, there is evidence selenium can help chemotherapy treatment by enhancing the efficacy of the treatment, reducing the toxicity of chemotherapeutic drugs, and preventing the body's resistance to the drugs.[SUP]
[59][/SUP] Studies of cancer cells
in vitro showed that chemotherapeutic drugs, such as
taxol and
Adriamycin, were more toxic to strains of cancer cells when selenium was added.[SUP]
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In March 2009, vitamin E (400 IU) and selenium (200 micrograms) supplements were reported to affect gene expression and can act as a tumor suppressor.[SUP]
[62][/SUP] Eric Klein, MD from the Glickman Urological and Kidney Institute in Ohio said the new study lend
credence to the previous evidence that selenium and vitamin E might be active as cancer preventatives.[SUP][63][/SUP] In an attempt to rationalize the differences between epidemiological and in vitro studies and randomized trials like SELECT, Klein said randomized controlled trials do not always validate what we believe biology indicates and that our model systems are imperfect measures of clinical outcomes in the real world.[SUP][63][/SUP]
