“Selenium supplement no help in asthma,” read the bold headline of the “news”/propaganda story the other day about a new study.
First, selenium supplementation would not be my first choice for “help in asthma”. Yet there is very good research regarding a lack of selenium related to poor lung health. The new study cited this fact.
Near the end of the “news” story it was reported that “indicators of asthma severity improved more in the selenium group than in the placebo group”. How does that compute to “no help in asthma” from selenium supplementation as the bold headline proclaimed? Through the Machiavellian machinations of modern mediSin.
Study well-designed … for failure
Study authors admitted that only a small number of participants in a previous study was a negative. They then constructed their study with not that many more subjects. Were they afraid of achieving good results? Small studies with good results are routinely dismissed when involving nutrients or herbs though when drugs are involved in small studies they are proudly proclaimed as promising.
The study used only 100 micrograms daily for selenium supplementation. World renowned selenium researcher Dr. Gerhard Schrauzer recommended 200 micrograms daily as a preventative measure almost 30 years ago. Studies utilizing that amount have produced dramatic benefits.
This new study was not preventative but rather with regard to those receiving active treatment for their conditions. Selenium has been used positively in treatment scenarios at 400 micrograms daily and more.
A National Institutes of Health web site on selenium says specifically that a 400 microgram daily supplemental intake of selenium “is likely to pose no risk of adverse health effects in almost all individuals in the general population”.
As a further reference point it was reported almost 30 years ago that in Japan the average dietary intake of selenium exceeded 500 micrograms daily, and Japan has the lowest worldwide incidence of all diseases associated with selenium deficiency – as well as one of the longest average life spans.
Even with only 100 micrograms daily selenium supplementation there was a dramatic increase of almost 50 per cent for blood selenium levels compared to no change in the placebo group, along with “indicators of asthma severity improved more in the selenium group than in the placebo group” as already noted above.
The study was kept small and kept to a small amount of selenium supplementation appearing to want to keep results small. More than modest results occurred yet the telling of the story concludes no benefit at all for selenium supplementation.
The “news” story also reported that testing was with “a preparation of yeast and selenium” which would indicate a yeast with selenium added which would generally be indicative of a low grade selenium selenite. The study itself clearly noted “a high-selenium yeast preparation” indicative of a high grade, whole food selenium compound which would explain the dramatic results achieved. The “news” story couldn’t even quote the study accurately. However, since the “news” story headline contradicted the facts of the story perhaps this is a lesser quibble.
An accompanying editorial in the science journal publishing the study titled ‘Dietary supplements and asthma: another one bites the dust’ prematurely and presumptively tries to bury any hope for selenium.
Alas in the wonderland of modern mediSin as reported by the British Medical Journal science publication Thorax and the British news service Reuters it is truth that gets morphed as though through the looking glass of Alice in Wonderland.
