US researchers expected to find selenium improves gluocose metabolism as suggseted by animal studies, but in a new randomized, double-blinded and placebo-controlled study of 1202 patients who were taking part in a clinical trial to assess the effect of selenium supplementation on skin cancer, the researchers were surprised to find that the incidence of type 2 diabetes was significantly higher in the selenium group than in the placebo group.
They concluded that long term use of selenium supplements may increase the risk of developing type 2 diabetes. More significantly, the higher the blood level of selenium, the greater the risk for developing the disease.
This is an important finding for public health because selenium supplements (30 - 200 mg) are used by people throughout the US and the western world. Read more...
The findings will be published in the August issue of Annals of Internal Medicine: 21 August 2007, vol 147, issue4. "Effects of Long-Term Selenium Supplementation on the Incidence of Type 2 Diabetes: A Randomized Trial"
Showing posts with label selenium. Show all posts
Showing posts with label selenium. Show all posts
Wednesday, July 11, 2007
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