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Selenium-enriched diets may help ward off myeloid leukemia, and a new study led by researchers has described the mechanism by which this occurs. The findings eventually could help lead to drug therapies that target some types of leukemia—including acute myeloid leukemia (AML), the researchers said. Penn State scientists previously found that supplementing the diets of mice with selenium—a trace mineral naturally found in varying amounts in many foods—stimulated the production of compounds known as cyclopentenone prostaglandins, which appeared to kill or suppress leukemia stem cells. Their latest study shows that these prostaglandins, called CyPGs, bind to and activate a gene,...

Scientists have discovered widespread differences in metal levels in the brains of patients with Huntington's disease, a type of dementia. The elements, including selenium (a metalloid), sodium, potassium, magnesium, calcium, iron, zinc, copper, and manganese, were studied in 11 parts of the brain. In particular, the scientists found substantial decreases in selenium levels in all 11 regions of the HD brains, calculating there was a high risk of having the disease when levels are low. Increased sodium and potassium ratios were observed in every region except the substantia nigra, and many of the regions showed increased calcium and/or zinc levels....

Metabolic syndrome (MetS) is a widespread clinical entity that has become almost a global epidemic. Selenium plays an important role in metabolic homeostasis. It has been suggested that it may also affect the expression and activity of PPAR-γ—an important mediator in energy balance and cell differentiation. In this new study, researchers aimed to analyze the relationships between these variables in the context of the health of women, for whom the risk of MetS increases with age. The study involved 390 women in middle age. The stages of study: a survey-based part; anthropometric measurements; analysis of biological material (blood) in terms...

A study has found a promising new treatment for patients with behavioral variant frontotemporal dementia, the second most common form of dementia in the under 60s—resulting in a stabilizing of what would normally be escalating behavioral issues, and a slowing of brain shrinkage due to the disease. It is the second clinical trial to show that the drug, sodium selenate, may slow cognitive decline and neurodegenerative damage that is the hallmark of many dementias including Alzheimer's Disease. Behavioral variant frontotemporal dementia (bvFTD) is a rapidly progressing destructive disease and can occur in people as young as 35 years of age....

Selenium—a mineral found in many foods—could reverse the cognitive impact of stroke and boost learning and memory in aging brains, according to University of Queensland research. Queensland Brain Institute (QBI) lead researcher Dr. Tara Walker said studies on the impact of exercise on the aging brain found levels of a protein key to transporting selenium in the blood were elevated by physical activity. "We've known for the last 20 years that exercise can create new neurons in the brain, but we didn't really understand how," Dr. Walker said. The research team investigated whether dietary selenium supplements could replicate the effects...

Abstract Iodine is a trace element that is essential for the synthesis of thyroid hormones in the thyroid gland. Evidence suggests that excess iodine intake exerts a triggering effect on the development of autoimmune thyroiditis (AT), with many studies reporting a rising incidence in iodine sufficient countries. Processing excess iodine in thyroid follicular cells, during thyroid hormone synthesis, may result in increased amounts of reactive oxygen species, leading to thyroid cell damage and the triggering of thyroid autoimmunity. Another trace element, selenium found in high amounts in the thyroid, is very important for thyroid physiology. Selenium is incorporated into selenoproteins...

FTC WARNED INVESTORS OFF HUGE DOLLAR GAINS/TAKE 3Jan 27, 2005 - FreeMarketNews.comby Chris MackWashington’s regulators are supposed to stand up for the little guy. Maybe they also help the little guy stay that way. In the last decade, under the pretense of protecting people from losing their shirts, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) released warnings about indium and other strategic metal investing “scams.” Some of these warnings haven’t been updated since - and in any event they are all over the ‘Net. Anyone with a computer and Google can type in “fraud” and “indium” and come up with the following:...

I am looking to replace the salt shaker in my house with a "Salt Grinder" type salt shaker and would like any freeper suggestions on what brands or types of sea salt may be the best as well as any warnings on what I may want to avoid. Here is are some of the per-requisites that i would like with my salt grinder. 1. The Sea salt Must contain Iodine 2. The Sea salt Must contain Selenium 3. The Sea Salt MUST be free of any heavy metals or toxic metals. I have heard good things about Himalayan sea salt...

New research in the FASEB Journal demonstrates need for public health initiatives aimed at identifying, treating and taking seriously modest vitamin and mineral deficienciesBethesda, MD—Severe deficiency of the vitamins and minerals required for life is relatively uncommon in developed nations, but modest deficiency is very common and often not taken seriously. A new research published online in the FASEB Journal (http://www.fasebj.org), however, may change this thinking as it examines moderate selenium and vitamin K deficiency to show how damage accumulates over time as a result of vitamin and mineral loss, leading to age-related diseases. "Understanding how best to define and...

Scientists are reporting that the controversy surrounding whether selenium can fight cancer in humans might come down to which form of the essential micronutrient people take. It turns out that not all "seleniums" are the same — the researchers found that one type of selenium supplement may produce a possible cancer-preventing substance more efficiently than another form of selenium in human cancer cells. Their study appears in the ACS' journal Biochemistry. Hugh Harris and colleagues note that although the Nutritional Prevention of Cancer clinical trial showed that selenium reduced the risk of cancer, a later study called the Selenium and...

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. – Florida's top veterinarian on Tuesday blamed the deaths of 21 elite polo horses on an overdose of a common mineral that helps muscles recover from fatigue. Florida's state veterinarian, Dr. Thomas J. Holt, said toxicology tests on the dead horses showed significantly increased selenium levels. The horses from the Venezuelan-owned Lechuza Caracas team began collapsing April 19 as they were unloaded from trailers at the International Polo Club Palm Beach in Wellington before a championship match. Some died at the scene, others hours later...

Enlarge ImageDouble duty. This protozoan encodes two amino acids with one codon.Credit: Lawrence Klobutcher Call it the genetic version of a double-entendre. Scientific dogma dictates that various three-letter combinations of our genetic sequence each "mean" exactly one thing--each codes for a particular amino acid, the building block of proteins. But a protozoan named Euplotes crassus appears to be more versatile: One of its three-letter combinations has two meanings, coding for two different amino acids. Although the find may seem trivial, it poses a major challenge to more than 4 decades of scientific thinking. It's a long road from gene...

NEW ORLEANS — Reduced serum selenium is an independent predictor of hypertension, according to an analysis of data from the third National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys. The findings from this and other studies, that serum selenium concentrations are reduced in African Americans, compared with those in with whites, may in part explain the increased incidence of hypertension in African Americans, Dr. Chizobam Ani said in a poster at a meeting sponsored by the International Society on Hypertension in Blacks. Serum selenium is an essential component in substances shown to mediate the incidence of cardiovascular disease, such as glutathione peroxidase...

Source: University at Buffalo Date: July 13, 2007 Selenium Supplements May Increase The Risk Of Type 2 Diabetes Science Daily — Selenium, an antioxidant included in multivitamin tablets thought to have a possible protective effect against the development of type 2 diabetes, may actually increase the risk of developing the disease, an analysis by researchers at the University at Buffalo has shown. Results of a randomized clinical trial using 200 micrograms of selenium alone showed that 55 percent more cases of type 2 diabetes developed among participants randomized to receive selenium than in those who received a placebo pill. Results...

Selenium supplements can slow the rise in virus levels in HIV-positive patients, which allows the number of beneficial CD4 immune cell to increase, according to results of a clinical trial supported by grants from the National Institutes of Health. Low blood levels of selenium have been linked to high HIV virulence and more opportunistic infections, Dr. Barry E. Hurwitz and associates at the University of Miami in Florida report in the Archives of Internal Medicine. In lab experiments, the element suppresses HIV-1 replication. Even when antiretroviral therapy (ART) is widely available, failure to keep the virus suppressed "is relatively common,...

1/19/2007 - The family claims the victims husband did it. But Fresno County prosecutors are closing the book on a murder mystery, seven years in the making. Linda Adanalian's death was unusual. Some thought it was murder, but a lengthy probe found no evidence of a crime. In a written statement Fresno County District Attorney Elizabeth Egan says the criminal investigation into the death of Linda Adanalian is over. Egan says: "Following an analysis of the facts developed during the investigation it was determined there is insufficient evidence to establish that the untimely death of Linda Adanalian resulted from criminal...

Five years after the mysterious death of a Clovis mother, her family is sharply criticizing the actions of the Fresno police department on national television. Linda Adanalian died suddenly after collapsing in front of her children. Harsh words on a several national morning shows today about Fresno police and they're handling of Linda Adanalian's death. The case is back in the spotlight after an independent report came out saying Linda was poisoned by her husband. Now the police chief is speaking out, saying he's taking the appropriate measures to re-investigate what for so many years was a cold case. Everyone...

Battle over toxic metal EPA appears set to relax standards for selenium, which led to deformities in waterfowl in 1980s. By Stuart Leavenworth -- Bee Staff Writer - (Published August 31, 2004) Over the objections of several federal scientists, the Bush administration is preparing to relax national standards for selenium - a toxic metal that caused mass deformities of water fowl in California's Central Valley during the 1980s. The revised U.S. Environmental Protection Agency standards are outlined in an EPA draft notice obtained by The Bee. Critics say the proposed standards are based on a study that even its author...

Scientists Create Crystal Möbius Strip A signature of arts and crafts sessions, the Möbius strip--a seemingly endless ribbon with only one side and one edge that can be made from construction paper and sticky tape--has been given a new look. According to a report published today in the journal Nature, scientists have succeeded in growing crystals in the form of Möbius structures. A piece of ribbon or paper can be twisted and turned easily, so a regular Möbius strip itself is no great feat of engineering. Crystals, in contrast, contain an inherently rigid structure. To manufacture their miniature Möbius strips,...