Selenium may Increase, not Decrease Diabetes Risk

A new study suggests that selenium supplements may increase a patient's risk for diabetes, contradicting previous evidence that indicated it may lower the risk.
Selenium is a trace mineral found in soil, water and some foods. It is an essential element in several metabolic pathways.

Specific dietary sources of selenium include brewer's yeast, wheat germ, butter, garlic, grains, sunflower seeds, Brazil nuts, walnuts, raisins, liver, kidney, shellfish (lobster, oyster, shrimp, scallops) and fresh-water and salt-water fish (red snapper, salmon, swordfish, tuna, mackerel, halibut, flounder, herring, smelts). Selenium is also found in alfalfa, burdock root, catnip, fennel seed, ginseng, raspberry leaf, radish, horseradish, onion, chives, medicinal mushrooms (reishi, shiitake) and yarrow.

Researchers from Roswell Park Cancer Institute in Buffalo, New York, Warwick Medical School in Coventry, United Kingdom and the U.S. Department of Agriculture Human Nutrition Research Center in Grand Forks, North Dakota explained that findings from animal models suggest that selenium supplementation improves glucose metabolism.
The investigated the effect of long-term selenium supplementation on the incidence of type 2 diabetes by conducting secondary analysis of a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial.

The study was based in areas of low selenium consumption of the eastern United States and included 1,202 persons seen in dermatology clinics who did not have type 2 diabetes at baseline.

The study participants were given 200 mug/day of selenium by mouth or placebo (mug is a derived unit for mass in the MKS gravitational system).

The study found that during an average follow-up of 7.7 years, type 2 diabetes developed in 58 selenium recipients and 39 placebo recipients (incidence, 12.6 cases per 1,000 person-years vs. 8.4 cases per 1,000 person-years, respectively).
The researchers noted that the lack of benefit of selenium supplementation on the incidence of type 2 diabetes persisted in analyses stratified by age, sex, body mass index and smoking status.

The authors also noted that a limitation may have been that diabetes was a secondary outcome in the parent trial. Also, diagnoses of diabetes were self-reported but were validated in most participants. The sample was mostly older and white.
The study authors concluded that selenium supplementation does not seem to prevent type 2 diabetes and it may increase risk for the disease.

Integrative therapies with good scientific treatment in the treatment of diabetes include beta-glucan, bitter melon, ginseng, gymnema and stevia.

1. Bleys J, Navas-Acien A, Guallar E. Selenium and Diabetes: More Bad News for Supplements. Ann Intern Med. 2007 Jul 9. View Abstract
2. Natural Standard Research Collaboration: The Authority on Integrative Medicine. www.naturalstandard.com. Copyright © 2007.

Source: Natural Standard July 2007

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