Re: Selenium balance, edit

I take some selenium with my increased doses of SSKI , like 200 mcg, to prevent a relapse of my hypo T. Over here where the soil is low in Se, I see it as a necessity. Also for its other benefits;


"Wallach also lists other effects of selenium deficiency: anemia (red blood cell fragility), fatigue, muscular weakness, myalgia (muscle pain), muscular dystrophy (white muscle disease in animals), cardiomyopathy (sudden death in athletes), heart palpitations, irregular heartbeat, liver cirrhosis, pancreatitis, Lou Gehrig's and Parkinson's diseases (mercury toxicity), Alzheimer's Disease (high intake of vegetable oil), sudden infant death syndrome (and possibly "breathlessness" in adults, jj), cancer, multiple sclerosis, and sickle cell anemia.

Selenium is essential for the production of testosterone. A deficiency seems to be involved in osteoarthritis. I've found studies linking selenium deficiency to alopecia (hair loss) and to degeneration of the knee joint (seen in Kashin-Beck disease). Since selenium is necessary to produce GPX which is a major detoxifier of man-made and environmental toxins, selenium deficiency can lead to chemical and drug sensitivities.

These are some of the non-thyroidal effects of selenium deficiency. The effects of selenium deficiency on thyroidal health is even more interesting. One study I read indicated that in experimental animals, selenium deficiency will increase T3 in the heart. This may be the reason that selenium deficiency causes heart palpitations and rapid heart beat, which is common in thyroid disease."

While I've found research on the interactions of Iodine and selenium, there are two other minerals which need to be studied for their interactions with these two: zinc and copper. I found one study which examined the complex interactions of selenium, iodine, and zinc (there are interactions), but none which have looked at all four minerals in a 4 X 4 factorial design. Now that would be an interesting study! Hopefully someone will do that soon.

I think one lesson from studying the interactions of selenium and Iodine is that the interrelationships between minerals are very complicated. Supplementing with one or two can cause further problems. You have to make sure that you correct every deficiency. Health is built from a chain of nutrients and, like a chain, health cannot be accomplished if one nutrient is missing. Sometimes it's complicated putting the chain back together without running into problems (like supplementing with either selenium or iodine, but not both), but every deficiency has to be corrected. -- John


http://www.greenwillowtree.com/Page.bok?file=selenium.iodine.html