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Senior Nutrition, Vitamins, Supplements
Cancer-Blocking Ability of Selenium Explained in
Study
May 23, 2006 - Selenium, an essential dietary
mineral that can act as an antioxidant when incorporated into proteins,
has been shown in many studies to reduce the incidence of cancers --
notably lung, colorectal and prostate. "The problem is, nobody seems to
know how the mechanism works, and that's not trivial," says the
principal investigator, who thinks he has found some answers.
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Vitamin E Offshoot Transformed to Potent Cancer
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'Such an agent might help reduce the risk of
prostate, colon and other cancers'
May 20, 2006 - Researchers have learned how a
derivative of vitamin E causes the death of cancer cells and have used
this knowledge to make the agent an even more potent cancer killer.
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Government Panel Has Ideas on Supplements, Undecided
on Multivitamins
They do want more government oversight on
vitamins and dietary supplements
By Tucker Sutherland, editor
May 18, 2006 – The vast majority of senior citizens
take multivitamins and other dietary supplements. Although usage
increases with age, it is a growing trend for all Americans, with more
than half spending $23 billion a year for the hope of better health.
Unfortunately, the National Institutes of Health's panel concluded their
extensive study yesterday...
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Antioxidants and Zinc Reduce Risk of Age-Related
Macular Degeneration Says New Report
This 2001 study now
confirmed by NIH panel
May 17, 2006 – A study of multivitamin and mineral
research by an independent panel organized by the National Institutes of
Health, yesterday recommended high levels of antioxidants and zinc to
reduce the risk of age-related macular degeneration (AMD), the major
cause of blindness in senior citizens. Read
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on
Nutrition, Vitamins & Supplements |
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"Knowing how it works allows you to maximize-out
its benefits," he said Alan Diamond, professor of human nutrition at the
University of Illinois at Chicago and principal investigator in an
ongoing multidisciplinary study set up at UIC to help answer that
question.
The research findings, using specially bred
transgenic mice, suggest it is the level of selenium-containing proteins
in the body that is instrumental in preventing cancer, and that dietary
selenium plays a role in stimulating the body's level of these
selenoproteins.
Two genetically manipulated mice were mated. One
was prone to developing prostate cancer. The other had lower levels of
selenoproteins. Approximately 50 offspring that carried both traits were
studied to see if the reduced levels of selenoproteins accelerated
cancer development. As the researchers suspected, it did.
"It's a hardcore link in an animal model system of
selenium-containing proteins to prostate cancer and, by extrapolation,
the mechanism by which selenium prevents cancer," said Diamond.
Further research is underway to corroborate the
stimulating effect of dietary selenium in enhancing levels of protective
selenoproteins. Diamond added that much work remains to be done to
discover exactly how selenoproteins play their protective role, and in
whom.
At least 25 different selenoproteins have been
found in the human body. But what role each plays is not known, nor is
it known if certain persons are genetically more -- or less -- receptive
to the benefits of these proteins, or to a selenium supplement, Diamond
said.
The effectiveness of selenium may be due to its
effects on a single selenoprotein, or combinations of several members of
this class. One selenoprotein in particular, glutathione peroxidase, is
of special interest to Diamond and his associates. They plan to run new
tests using new mice genetically modified to reduce levels of just this
one selenoprotein.
"If reductions result in accelerated prostate
cancer, then we have our player," he said.
The report by Diamond and his colleagues is in the
May 23 issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences on
Other UIC faculty participating in the study
include Veda Diwadkar-Navsariwala, post-doctoral researcher in human
nutrition; Gain Prins, professor of urology; Steven Swanson, associate
professor of medicinal chemistry and pharmacognosy; Lynn Birch, research
specialist in urology; Vera Ray, clinical assistant professor of
pathology; Sadam Hedayat, distinguished professor of statistics; and
Daniel Lantvit, research specialist in pharmaceutical sciences.
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