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The Government has officially confirmed homeopathy's continuing role in the NHS - ensuring that patients can continue to benefit from it. The Government response states ..... |
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In research presented at the AIDS 2010: XVIII International AIDS Conference 3 separate studies (2 preliminary trials in Miami: 1 in Botswana) showed positive response to supplementation with ..... |
Oncologists at several Cancer Treatment Centres in the US, including the Center for Integrative Medicine and Wellness at Northwestern Memorial Hospital, Chicago are ..... |
Anthony L. Rosner PhD, a well known chiropractor, has written a detailed and scathing response to the latest attacks from Prof Ernst on Chiropractic. In ChiroACCESS he says that Ernst..... |
A new study from Nice University published in the Journal of Lipid Research shows that 'obesity' is increased as it is passed from one generation to the next - in those populations with a diet rich in fat and ..... |
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A brand new study has shown that "snacking" is NOT related to obesity in teens! This surprising finding comes from research that was partially funded by Frito Lay - a division of .....
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We have covered the potential damage caused by Bisphenol A (BPA), "a hormone (oestrogen)- mimicking environmental contaminant" - many times in recent years and.....
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Indian farmers are injecting a hormone sometimes given to women during childbirth - oxytocin - into vegetables and fruits to make the produce ripen sooner and gain weight, and.....
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A study published in the online issue of Neurology, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology using Mayo Clinic records has reviewed the experiences of people who experienced..... |
Recent studies have reinforced the view that when it comes to resuscitation for cardiac arrest patients, mouth-to-mouth help by untrained bystanders should be discouraged and..... |
 Swine Flu Continues to be Active; Claiming 3 More Deaths
Three people died from Swine Flu in India last week. The World Health Organization is continuing to recommend that people have the H1N1 vaccine during the current (Southern hemisphere) and forthcoming (Northern Hemisphere) flu seasons. (H1N1 is the Swine flu virus that caused the pandemic 'Spanish Flu' virus in 1918) Read more here |
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Do You Have an Article for Publishing?  
We appreciate that many of you will have stories, research and other fascinating articles that you would like to submit to The CMA for our consideration for publication in this e-newsletter (and in our Journal - "With Our Complements").
To help you we have prepared a handy set of guidelines that you should read before sending your articles.
Click here to read our submission guidelines. |
 The Government has officially confirmed homeopathy's continuing role in the NHS - ensuring that patients can continue to benefit from it.
The Government response states that 'local NHS and clinicians, rather than Whitehall, are best placed to make decisions on what treatment is appropriate for their patients - including complementary or alternative treatments such as homeopathy - and provide accordingly for those treatments.'
A statement from Dr. Sarah Eames, President of the Faculty of Homeopathy states: 'As a doctor who practices homeopathy on the NHS, I know homeopathy is an important part of our health service helping tens of thousands of patients annually, a majority of whom have not been helped sufficiently with conventional treatments. I am pleased to see the government, contrary to the recommendations of the Science and Technology Committee's report, agrees that homeopathy has a place in the NHS and offers choice to both patients and local purchasers of healthcare.' Read more here
You want the evidence for homeopathy in the treatment of allergies?
Look no further than the Alternative Medicine Review: Spring 2010 issue - article number 6. This excellent research round-up by two of the giants of homeopathy; Dana Ullman MPH and Michael Frass MD, pulls no punches when it comes to delivering an outstanding overview of current published research in the treatment of allergenic conditions.
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Supplementation with Vitamin and Mineral Antioxidants Improves the Outcomes for HIV-Positive Patients
In research presented at the AIDS 2010: XVIII International AIDS Conference 3 separate studies (2 preliminary trials in Miami: 1 in Botswana) showed positive response to supplementation with vitamin and mineral antioxidants in HIV - infected people, where the supplementation was found to have improved their immune functions and survival rates.
Lead researcher Dr. Marianna K. Baum said: "In the studies supplementation was associated with longer survival, less immune failure, and better mitochondrial function in CD4+ cells."
In the first study, the investigators examined the effect of zinc supplementation over an 18 month period. By the end of this study 4 patients in the placebo group (21%) had experienced immune failure, compared with none in the zinc group.
In the second study, they supplemented with multiple antioxidants, including vitamins C, E, and B complex, selenium, N-acetyl cysteine, and alpha-lipoic acid, as well as zinc. At the end of 8 weeks patients receiving the supplements had increased CD4 and showed increased activity of complex IV, an enzyme involved in oxidative phosphorylation within the mitochondria (P = .016), suggesting decreased mitochondrial damage.
The third was a randomised control clinical study in Botswana, amongst 875 HIV-positive adults where they compared supplementation with vitamins C, E, and B complex plus selenium with multivitamins alone, selenium alone, and placebo.
Over the course of the 24 month study they found that the timeline to any event indicating disease progression was longer among people receiving any type of nutritional supplementation than among those not receiving nutritional supplements. Read more here
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How About Yoga, Acupuncture and Stress Management - as Cancer Treatments?
Oncologists at several Cancer Treatment Centres in the US, including the Center for Integrative Medicine and Wellness at Northwestern Memorial Hospital, Chicago are using therapies like yoga, acupuncture and stress management.
A spokesman from the Integrative Medicine Program at The University of Texas explained:
"Integrative medicine is a philosophy based on treating patients by focusing on the whole person and using both conventional and complementary therapies in a multidisciplinary care fashion.....It is similar to complementary medicine, but one key difference is that there is an open communication between practitioners of the different traditions."
These centres appear to be following their patients lead as more patients with cancer are turning to integrative medicine or integrative oncology methods (between 30% and 80% of patients use some form of integrative or complementary medicine) and traditional oncology centres have been setting up integrative medicine centers as there has been a growing awareness of the value of integrative oncology therapies, among traditional oncologists. Read more here
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Ernst Delivers Yet Another "Misbegotten Review"; This Time Its Chiropractors' Turn to Fight Back
Anthony L. Rosner, Ph.D. a well known chiropractor has written a detailed and scathing response to the latest attacks from Prof Ernst on Chiropractic.
In ChiroACCESS he says that Ernst.....
" seems to have wasted no time in creating a worst-case scenario, frightening the reader from a profession which has successfully treated patients for 115 years and for which evidence supporting its effectiveness and safety is abundant...... Unfortunately, many of Ernst's assertions regarding spinal manipulation and chiropractic have been discredited in the past and, in several instances, found to be blatantly misleading. The current article is no exception."
Rosner sees Ernst's problem with chiropractic as one of 'perspective'.
Ernst's attack focuses on the 26 deaths from chiropractic over the last 75 years which, given there are an estimated 250,000,000 chiropractic visits per year in the United States, 3,400,000 chiropractic visits per year in Canada and 2,250,000 visits per year in the United Kingdom, is an amazingly low number of negative outcomes, especially when compared to the 230,000-280,000 deaths caused by iatrogenesis (doctor-caused deaths) in medical treatment as reported by the Institute of Medicine, or from just the use of NSAID medications (e.g. Ibuprofen, Aspirin, etc), producing 10,000-20,000 fatalities from multiple organ systems adversely affected - in the United States alone.
To read the full rebuttal click here
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A new study from Nice University published in the Journal of Lipid Research shows that 'obesity' is increased as it is passed from one generation to the next - in those populations with a diet rich in fat and with high levels of Omega 6's (linoleic acids) and low levels of Omega 3's (alpha-linoleic acids). What many people call "the Western Diet."
The researchers exposed mice to a "Western-like" diet - and then bred them randomly and continued on the same diet for successive generations.
Over several generations their offspring showed an enhancement in fat mass.
The researchers say that..... "under conditions of genome stability and with no change in the regimen over four generations, we show that a Western-like, fat diet induces a gradual fat-mass enhancement, in accordance with the increasing prevalence of obesity observed in humans". Read more here |
 A brand new study has shown that "snacking" is NOT related to obesity in teens! This surprising finding comes from research that was partially funded by Frito Lay - a division of PepsiCo, Inc. - which manufactures, markets and sells a variety of potato chips (crisps) corn chips and other snack foods.
The study examined the associations of
snacking with weight status and abdominal obesity in 5811, 12-18 year old adolescents between 1999 - 2004 by looking at data from the US National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES).
They concluded that "snackers" were less likely to be overweight or obese and less likely to have abdominal obesity when compared with non-snackers. Read more here
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Researchers from the University of Sheffield have discovered that drinking alcohol can not only ease the symptoms of rheumatoid arthritis but that it also appears to reduce the severity of the disease as well. There are also indications that it could reduce peoples' susceptibility to developing RA in the first place.
Rheumatoid arthritis affects around 400,000 people in the UK and is a serious, chronic, auto-immune systemic disease caused by a malfunctioning immune system - which results in painful, stiff and swollen joints, joint destruction and progressive disability.
The research was undertaken amongst around 1,900 people (873 arthritis patients; 1,004 control group) and lead researcher, Dr James Maxwell, stated:
"We found that patients who had drunk alcohol most frequently had symptoms that were less severe than those who had never drunk alcohol or only drank it infrequently."
Furthermore, X-rays showed there was less damage to their joints and blood tests showed lower levels of inflammation. There was also less joint pain, swelling and disability in those patients who drank alcohol.
The researchers do not yet know why drinking alcohol should reduce the severity of RA, and people's susceptibility to developing it.
This research supports earlier studies like the 2008 one undertaken by the Karolinska Institute in Sweden which showed that regular alcohol intake cuts the risk of developing rheumatoid arthritis by up to half. They reported that the risk of getting RA was up to 50% lower for those who drank the equivalent of five glasses of wine a week compared with those who drank the least, they found. A spokeswoman from the co-funders of the current research, Arthritis Research UK, emphasised: "We would not want people with RA to take this research to mean that they should go out and start drinking alcohol frequently and in large amounts as this could be detrimental to their health." She added that some treatments, (e.g. methotrexate) could damage the liver when taken with large amounts of alcohol. Read more here
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Running Your Practice More Profitably:
"I Am the One and Only!"
 Yes you are. And if you want to succeed as a "business" you have to make sure you tell everyone - in your specific 'target audience' (of existing and potential clients/ patients) exactly what makes you - and your way of treating people - SO special.
BUT, and it's a big BUT, whatever you do, tell them in a way that makes sense to them.
Stand in their shoes. Look at it from their point-of-view: "If I'm going to trust my health-care to this particular practitioner.....if I'm going to spend all this money with them.....if I'm going to choose them, rather than another well-respected, fully qualified practitioner - "What Will "I" Get Out of It???"
What makes people decide to use your services is not how many qualifications you've got (though that's certainly a help - or a 'supporting argument'), or how long you've been in practice (again this could be a valuable part of your message), but what you can - and will - do for them.
More Business from Existing Clients - and New Business from Potential Clients:
Always remember the most powerful message you can use to get more business from existing clients - and to convert potential clients into actual 'customers' - is to tell them what they - as an individual - will get from being treated by you.
Even More Business from your Highly Satisfied Clients:
Highly satisfied clients are extremely important to your practice: To ensure repeat appointments, don't hesitate to REMIND them of exactly how they benefitted last time they saw you - and tell them why they should see you ASAP - to get these benefits again.
If you're really interested in boosting your natural healthcare business click here to book into the next
all-day workshop with Jayney Goddard.
(Plus - as a special offer to readers of this e-newsletter you can take advantage of our exclusive 'Early-Bird' Recession Buster discount if you book before the 25th August.)
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We have covered the potential damage caused by Bisphenol A (BPA), "a hormone (oestrogen)- mimicking environmental contaminant" - many times in recent years and in the January Issue of this CMA Monthly World News Update we noted that research undertaken by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in the US found that Bisphenol A - and every one of the 212 potentially harmful chemicals they tested for - was present in almost all Americans.
Everybody should, by now, know that BPA is all around us, in your plastic water bottles, cans (linings), most plastic products, etc, etc - and that mini particles of it have been found in the middle of the Pacific (North pacific Gyre) and on snow taken from the top of remote mountains.
A new study by The Environmental Working Group (EWG) in Washington D.C., has found residues of it on till receipts - and it is now reported that it is also used in many thermal- and carbonless-copy papers - to print images. Some experts are now arguing that our major exposure to BPA's might even come from till receipts. A spokesperson explained:
"The receipt for a McDonald's Happy Meal™ purchased in Clinton, Conn., on April 21, 2010, had an estimated 13 milligrams of BPA," EWG notes online in a summary of its findings. "That equals the amount of BPA in 126 cans of Chef Boyardee Overstuffed Beef Ravioli in Hearty Tomato & Meat Sauce," the group points out - "one of the products with the highest concentrations of BPA in EWG's 2007 tests of canned foods." A receipt from a McDonald's in Japan, however, had non-detectable concentrations of BPA. Read more here
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Minister Warns Against the Use of Oxytocin Hormone Injections in Fruit and Vegetables
Indian farmers are injecting a hormone sometimes given to women during childbirth - oxytocin - into vegetables and fruits to make the produce ripen sooner and gain weight, and junior health minister Dinesh Trivedi has demanded a nationwide crackdown on the illegal use of this prescription drug - which can cause serious health problems if taken over a long period. Read more here |
Forget the Mouth - to - Mouth Approach for Cardiac Arrest Victims?
Recent studies have reinforced the view that - when it comes to resuscitation for cardiac arrest patients - mouth-to-mouth help by untrained bystanders should be discouraged - and the use of 'hands-only' chest compressions (CPR) should be encouraged.
The two studies (conducted between 2004 and 2009) show that survival rates were similar for adults who received their CPR from bystanders randomly assigned to provide only chest compressions and those who were instructed to do standard CPR with rescue breathing.
The president of the AHA stated "For people who are not well trained or who are looking for a simple way to help save a life, chest compressions only, at least until the emergency care unit arrives, can be life saving, even without rescue breathing." Read more here |
Early Warning System (50 Years Early) for Later Development of Dementia and Parkinson's Disease
A study published in the online issue of Neurology, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology using Mayo Clinic records has reviewed the experiences of people who experienced rapid eye movement (REM) sleep behaviour disorder (these people tend to act out their dreams with violent movements, such as punching) for at least 15 years before developing Parkinson's disease, dementia associated with Lewy bodies or multiple system atrophy.
The study found that this kind of sleep disorder started up to 50 years (average 25 years) before the symptoms of the neurologic disorders were diagnosed and the paper's author, Bradley F. Boeve, explained:
"Our findings suggest that in some patients, conditions such as Parkinson's disease or dementia with Lewy bodies have a very long span of activity within the brain and they also may have a long period of time where other symptoms aren't apparent. More research is needed on this possible link so that scientists may be able to develop therapies that would slow down or stop the progression of these disorders years before the symptoms of Parkinson's disease or dementia appear." Read more hereBack to topPicture: Immunohistochemistry for alpha-synuclein showing positive staining
(brown of an intraneural Lewy-body in the Substantia nigra in Parkinson
disease, by Marvin101.
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Greetings!
Here's the latest breaking news on the most recent developments in Complementary and Natural Healthcare research - across the field.
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Find out "How to Run Your Practice More Profitably - Even in a Recession"
Next all-day Workshop with Jayney Goddard on 1st September
Click here to find out more and to book or call us on 0845 1298434 to reserve your seat as these events sell out very quicklyBook before midnight 25th August to take advantage of the "Early Bird" Recession-Buster discount! |
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What is The CMA?
As you probably know, The Complementary Medical Association is one of the world's largest Professional Membership bodies for highly qualified Complementary Medical Practitioners, CAM Students and Training Colleges. However, there is so much more to us than that - More . . . |
Latest Complementary Medicine and Natural HealthCare World News
Vitamin D and Risk of Cognitive Decline in Elderly Persons
A recent study in the journal Archives of International Medicine, has shown that low levels of vitamin D are
associated with substantial cognitive decline in the elderly
population (6-year study period), which, they believe, raises important new
possibilities for treatment and prevention of cognitive decline.
Nine out of 10 diabetics were found vitamin D deficient, and those with the lowest vitamin D levels had the worst blood sugar control
Earlier this week, safety concerns prompted an FDA
advisory panel to nearly recommend pulling Avandia - the most commonly
prescribed diabetes drug - from the market. By a narrow margin, the panel voted
to allow the it to stay on the market - provided it added a set of new warnings and restrictions to its labeling
and use and asked its maker, GlaxoSmithKline, to stop enrolling new
participants in a trial comparing it to a rival drug called Actos.
Evidence Builds to Show that Vitamin D Deficiency May Cause Diabetes
A recent study, presented at the annual meeting of
the Endocrine Society suggests that vitamin D deficiency may cause or promote
diabetes.
Vitamin D and Parkinson's Disease?
A recent study published in the Archives of Neurology
by Knekt et al. provides preliminary data supporting future interventional studies
of the role of vitamin D in the pathogenesis of Parkinson Disease.
Michelangelo Leaves Spinal Cord Images - Hidden in Sistine Chapel Fresco
Great pictures to look at in this study which
claims that Michelangelo, who was an accomplished anatomist, as well as quite a
good painter, appears to have hidden an image of the brainstem and spinal cord
in one of his depictions of God in the Sistine Chapel's ceiling. This study by
a neurosurgeon and a medical illustrator from Johns Hopkins is published in the
May Neurosurgery.
Stem cell technique regrows joints
Researchers in the US have, for the first time
ever, succeeded in completely regenerating an entire joint surface from scratch
by using stem cells.
The research took place in 10 live rabbits and the
researchers said this was the first study in which joint regeneration actually
happened inside the animal's body, using stem cells. Lead researcher Jeremy Mao
(Columbia University Medical Center)said that regulations do not permit doctors
to use these techniques immediately, however, even though the joints his team
was able to produce would theoretically benefit people.
Pluripotent stem cells not as 'useful' for development as embryonic stem cells?
Adult cells
that have been reprogrammed into induced pluripotent stem cells (iPS cells) do
not completely let go of their past, perhaps limiting their ability to function
as a less controversial alternative to embryonic stem cells for basic research
and cell replacement therapies, according to researchers at Children's Hospital
Boston, John Hopkins University and their colleagues.
Resveratrol Proven to Suppress Inflammation in Humans
Resveratrol, an extract from the skins of grapes and found
naturally in red wine - has been known to be able to prolong life in yeast and
lower animals due to its anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties, has now
been shown to suppress inflammation in humans.
White Button Mushrooms Boost Immune System?
The results of a recent study in the US suggest that
white button mushrooms may promote our body's immune function by increasing the
production of antiviral and other proteins that are released by cells seeking
to protect and repair tissue.
Cancer-Fighting Roles of Various Plants - Including Strawberries
A number
of studies are under way - exploring the medical effects of various plants - at
the US's Agricultural
Research Service's
Western Human Nutrition Research Center in California.
The
focus is on the role that these plants may play in preventing cancer and other
diseases. One of the plants currently being studied is the strawberry and
researchers have started to investigate the role that certain compounds in
strawberries may have in combating cancer. The results indicate that there are
3 compounds of interest at work here: ellagic acid, kaempferol, and quercetin -
and they have found that these can kill, or severely damage certain lines of
leukemia cells.
Music Helps to Boost Learning
Researchers from Northwestern University in the
States explain; ".....this effect of music training suggests that, akin to
physical exercise and its impact on body fitness, music is a resource that
tones the brain for auditory fitness," the researchers urge that: "the role of
music in shaping individual development deserves consideration."
Meditation Boosts Attention Span
People who utilize Buddhist meditation techniques
enjoy sharpened attention skills and ability to focus.
Exercise Helps to Stave Off Dementia
A team from Harvard Medical School have reported
that more intense physical activity may help slash the risk of age-related
cognitive decline.
Their conclusions are
that; moderate
to heavy physical activity is associated with a reduced risk for dementia, for
up to two decades of follow-up. Their data emphasise that a reduced risk of
dementia may be one additional health benefit to adults of maintaining at least
moderate physical activity.
Cashew Compound May Help Ward Off Diabetes
Canadian team reports that cashew seed extracts
help to improve the body's response to insulin, thereby showing promise as an
effective anti-diabetic.
Previous Global Health News:
The Role of Tribbles (Star Trek 'Furballs) in Diabetes
Named for the furballs
whose astonishing fecundity made them stars in early Star Trek episodes, the
tribbles protein, first identified in fruit flies, aids in regulating many cell
processes in humans. Joslin Diabetes Center researchers have identified
mechanisms triggered by a variant of the tribbles gene that cause trouble in
insulin-producing pancreatic beta cells-and that offer a promising target for
therapies for people with type 2 diabetes, even if they don't carry that gene
variant.
Lead researcher Dr.
Kulkarni says: "While our research
started out looking at one particular genetic variant of tribbles, our findings
may have a broader impact on patients with type 2 diabetes, because they
highlight ways in which elevated levels of tribbles have an effect on the beta
cell. The higher the protein, the greater the defect."
Tai Chi, Qi Gong Are Both Good for Your Health
Qi
Gong and Tai Chi, claims a new research, are advantageous to both physical and
mental health.
One reviewer stated;
"The research studies reviewed showed that simplified
routines - ones that are more practical for RCTs - are in fact quite effective
in health
enhancement.....(so) individuals could forego learning complicated routines
(except for cultural or artistic purposes)."
High Potassium? Check Your Antibiotics
Older
adults taking a widely prescribed combination of antibiotics for urinary tract
infections (trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole (TMP-SMX)) are at increased risk of
elevated potassium levels, called hyperkalemia, according to a study appearing
in an upcoming issue of the Clinical
Journal of the American Society of Nephrology.
Study Shows The Global Warming Impact of 'Inhaled' Anaesthetics
Inhaled anaesthetics are recognised greenhouse gases.
Calculating their relative impact during common clinical usage will allow
comparison to each other and to carbon dioxide emissions in general.
Under comparable and common clinical conditions, key
elements released by anaesthetic gases do affect 'greenhouse' gases: desflurane
has a greater potential impact on global warming than either isoflurane or
sevoflurane. N2O alone produces a sizable greenhouse gas
contribution relative to sevoflurane or isoflurane. Additionally, 60% N2O
combined with potent inhaled anesthetics to deliver 1 MAC of anesthetic
substantially increases the environmental impact of sevoflurane and isoflurane,
and decreases that of desflurane. N2O is destructive to the ozone
layer as well as possessing GWP; it continues to have impact over a longer
time frame, and may not be an environmentally sound trade off for desflurane.
From our calculations, avoiding N2O and unnecessarily high fresh gas
flow rates can reduce the environmental impact of inhaled anaesthetics.
Inhaled anaesthetics, as a group, are recognized
greenhouse gases.1-3
However, because they have been considered "medically essential" and used in
relatively small amounts, they have been only cursorily investigated.
Brain Atrophy Responsible for Depression in People Battling Multiple Sclerosis ;
Researchers at
UCLA have suggested a physical cause for depression in MS sufferers, relating
to the atrophy of a specific region of the hippocampus, a critical part of the
brain involved in mood and memory, among other functions.
One of the lead
authors explained: "..... this idea of a link between excessive activity
of the HPA axis and reduced brain volume in the hippocampus hasn't received a
lot of attention, despite the fact that the most consistently reproduced
findings in psychiatric patients with depression (but without MS) include
hyperactivity of the HPA axis and smaller volumes of the hippocampus. So the
next step is to compare MS patients with depression to psychiatric patients
with depression to see how the disease progresses in each"
Ultrafine particles in air pollution may heighten allergic inflammation in asthma
A new academic study led by UCLA scientists has
found that even brief exposure to ultrafine pollution particles near a Los
Angeles freeway is potent enough to boost the allergic inflammation that exacerbates
asthma.
Higher Testosterone May Raise Risk of Heart Disease in Elderly Men
Older men with higher
testosterone levels are more likely to have a myocardial infarction or
cardiovascular disease in the future, according to results of a large,
multicentre study.
Genetic Signatures of Exceptional Longevity in Humans
Healthy aging is thought to reflect the combined
influence of environmental factors (lifestyle choices) and genetic
factors.To explore the genetic contribution, researchers from the Boston
University School of Medicine undertook a genome-wide association study of exceptional longevity (EL) in 1055 centenarians and 1267 controls. Using this data, they built a genetic model that
includes 150 single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) and found that
it could predict EL with 77% accuracy in an independent set of
centenarians and controls.
Further in-silico analysis (i.e. 'computer based' in conjunction with informatics data!) revealed that
90% of centenarians can be grouped into 19 clusters characterised by
different combinations of SNP genotypes-orgenetic signatures-of
varying predictive value. The different signatures, which attest to
the genetic complexity of EL, correlated with differences in the
prevalence and age of onset of age-associated diseases (e.g.,
dementia, hypertension, and cardiovascular disease) and may help
dissect this complex phenotype into sub-phenotypes of healthy aging.
New Controversy over the Use of Selenium for Tumour Patients
The essential trace element selenium is attracting
more attention from oncologists - this
interest is mainly focused on:
- protection of normal tissues,
- sensitising
in malignant tumours
- anti-oedematous effect prognostic impact of
selenium
- and effects in primary and secondary cancer prevention
Selenium deficiency has been linked to
increased infection risk and adverse mood states.It has been shown
to possess cancer-preventive and cytoprotective activities in both
animal models and humans. It is well established that it has a key
role in redox regulation and antioxidant function, and hence in
membrane integrity, energy metabolism, and protection against DNA
damage.
Recent clinical trials have shown the importance of selenium in clinical oncology. More recently, concerns arose
from 2 large clinical prevention trials (NPC, SELECT) that selenium
may increase the risk of developing type 2 diabetes. Despite obvious
flaws in both studies and good counterarguments, controversy remains
on the possible advantages and risks of selenium in cancer
prevention. However, in the light of the recent clinical trials the
potential benefits of selenium supplementation in tumour patients
are becoming obvious, even though further research is needed.
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