Selenium en kanker*
Al vanaf de zestiger jaren leggen wetenschappers het verband tussen lagere inname van selenium in de voeding en de hogere sterfte aan kanker. Vorig jaar nog liet een franse studie onder 1389 oudere mensen zien dat lage bloedwaarde selenium wel een vier keer grotere kans gaven om te sterven aan kanker dan hoge bloedwaarde. Nu zien wetenschappers van de universiteit van Surrey in Engeland een verband tussen selenium en kanker sinds dat Engeland is toegetreden tot de EU. Voor de toetreding importeerde Engeland het meeste graan uit Canada en Amerika waar de landbouwgronden rijk zijn aan het mineraal selenium. Sindsdien betrekt Engeland zijn graan hoofdzakelijk uit Europa, waar de gronden duidelijk minder selenium bevatten. Het aantal doden als gevolg van kanker in Engeland is sindsdien gegroeid en groter geworden dan het aantal doden als gevolg van hart- en vaatziektes. De wetenschappers vinden dat op korte termijn uitgebreid onderzoek noodzakelijk is.
Joining
European Union Affected The Health Of The British
Recent
research from the University of Surrey, UK, has indicated that the UK's dietary
needs are not being met as a result of the change in our trading patterns since
joining the EU.
Before joining the EU, the UK used to buy the majority of its wheat from Canada
and the USA. North America has soil which is naturally rich in selenium, an
essential mineral long known to have vital cancer prevention properties. However,
the UK now uses home-grown and EU wheat which has a considerably lower selenium
content. Deaths from cancer in the UK now outnumber deaths from heart disease
and stroke and UK scientists have been prompted to investigate the link between
low selenium intakes and cancer mortality.
Dr Margaret Rayman of the Division of Nutrition, Dietetics and Food Science from
the School of Biomedical and Molecular Sciences in the University of Surrey
stated: "It is in the public interest to finance more research on the
apparent relationship between selenium and cancer risk."
Since as early as the 1960s, geographical studies by Shamberger and Frost in
1969, Schrauzer in 1977 and Clark in1991, have shown a consistent trend for
populations with low selenium intakes to have higher cancer mortality rates.
A study was carried out in France by Akbaraly et al last year (2005) which
followed a group of 1389 elderly volunteers to for a period of nine years. The
average level of selenium in the group, as measured in blood samples collected
when they joined the study, was similar to that in UK people of the same age.
Over the nine-year time period, 101 subjects died, fifty-five of them from
cancer. Interestingly, when the volunteers were divided into four groups
according to the levels of selenium in their bodies at the beginning of the
study, it was found that four times as many deaths from cancer had occurred
among those in the bottom group than among those in the top group.
The strongest evidence for a protective effect of selenium relates to prostate
cancer but significant protection has also been shown from colon cancer, lung
cancer, oesophageal and stomach cancers.
But what can the consumer do? Aside from ordering our bread fresh from North
America every day, the safest option is currently to eat a few Brazil nuts a day
to help us to consume an adequate amount of selenium. Dr Rayman has been
involved in the development of functional foods with a higher selenium content
that can be readily absorbed by the body. Rayman and some other European
scientists are trying to raise money to fund the demanding and meticulous
studies that are needed to prove that selenium truly has a beneficial effect in
reducing cancer risk.
In today's society where one in three people will suffer from some form of
cancer in their lifetime, a study of this nature would have a dramatic effect on
the war against cancer.
About the University of Surrey
The University of Surrey is one of the UK's leading professional, scientific and
technological universities with a world class research profile and a reputation
for excellence in teaching and research. Ground-breaking research at the
University is bringing direct benefit to all spheres of life - helping industry
to maintain its competitive edge and creating improvements in the areas of
health, medicine, space science, the environment, communications, defence and
social policy. Programmes in science and technology have gained widespread
recognition and it also boasts flourishing programmes in dance and music, social
sciences, management and languages and law. In addition to the campus on 150
hectares just outside Guildford, Surrey, the University also owns and runs the
Surrey Research Park, which provides facilities for 140 companies employing
2,700 staff.
The 2006 Guardian University League Table placed the University of Surrey 12th
overall for its undergraduate programmes (out of 122 UK universities), which
along with recognition from The Sunday Times for being 'The University for
Jobs', underlines UniS' growing reputation for providing high quality, relevant
degrees.